WaterHealth India (WHIN) and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) have partnered to provide clean, safe and affordable drinking water to people in Delhi.
WaterHealth is the next generation water ‘micro-utility’, delivering a sustainable service that purifies local water sources to WHO-quality drinking water standards. It installs, operates, maintains and quality monitors decentralized community water (Purification) systems called WaterHealth Centers (WHCs).
This collaboration expects to bring about a positive and healthy change in the drinking water habits of underserved communities in Delhi and provide clean and safe drinking water at an affordable price. Under this partnership, WaterHealth India (WHIN) will install 29 WaterHealth Centers (WHCs) and 250 Water Dispensation Units (WDUs) in the urban slums of Delhi.
A Water Dispensation Unit (WDU) is a ‘small footprint’ stand-alone water vending machine that can be installed in high footfall locations thereby extending the ‘safe water’ coverage area. The unit comprises of a water storage tank, dispensing pump, dispensing tap, dispensing controller and a power system.
WaterHealth has recently inaugurated three (3) WHC and three (3) WDUs at Alipur, Batla House and Mubarak Dhabas in Delhi. This community based water distribution system will provide safe and affordable drinking water to the underserved communities in the area.
Speaking on the occasion, Vikas Shah, Chief Operating Officer, WaterHealth International (WHI) said, “WaterHealth has associated with Delhi Jal Board to provide safe drinking water to underserved citizens of the National Capital. This partnership will be instrumental in bringing the Company closer to achieving its mission of providing safe water to over 100 million people by 2020.”
While Delhi Jal Board will provide infrastructural support i.e. land, the water source and electricity connection for setting up the WHCs and WDUs, while WHIN will install and operate the plants (WHCs) and machine (WDUs) in the designated areas of Delhi.
The project builds on WaterHealth India’s successful track record of installing and managing over 500 WHCs in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu since 2006. The Company’s award winning water purification and disinfection technology, combined with creative business approaches has enabled the delivery of affordable, clean and safe drinking water to even the most underserved communities. Raw water undergoes six (6) stages of purification in a WHC, including reverse osmosis (RO) and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection and the treated water meets the stringent IS10500 and World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
Plants set up under this partnership provide clean drinking water at an affordable price and will filter 10,000 liters of water per day. WaterHealth has provided RFID cards to consumers for WDUs, wherein the consumers, just need to touch the screen with the card for water dispensation. Initial recharge would cost ` 100 and subsequent recharge can be done from ` 25.
In the last ten (10) years of its operation, WaterHealth India has not only provided access to clean and safe drinking water to underserved communities but has also driven social marketing programs to transform their habits and mindsets through awareness programs. Studies have shown that WHCs have positively affected lives of households consuming WHIN’s brand i.e. dr. water by reducing morbidity and drudgery (time spent mainly by women and children in fetching water) and increasing the number of workdays (earlier lost to sickness or in fetching water from distant sources), annual income and savings.
