Clean water, a right of human kind

 Adopt a Village by HDFC Bank` Kheda, MP

Kheda is a Village in Badnawar Tehsil in Dhar District of Madhya Pradesh State, India. The local language of Kheda is Hindi. The total population of the village is 3006 and number of houses are 618. (Data source- NRDWP)

Partnership 

Piramal Sarvajal is a mission-driven social enterprise which is committed to leveraging technology to bring community-level safe, affordable, accessible drinking water and currently serving the population- 7,25,000+ to the underserved with more than 1700 touchpoints.

Under its Health and sustainability pillar, HDFC life adopted a village named Kheda with Sarvajal to provide safe drinking water. 

Source- Baseline report

During the survey of Baseline it was also found that 50% of the population is dissatisfied from the drinking water quality. They judge the purity on the basis of taste. 53% of the sample households felt that their drinking water is contaminated. All these 53% households perceived minerals/salt as the water impurity.

The survey highlighted that the community lacks awareness on preventive measures for water borne diseases. Thusly, to provide solutions for Safe drinking water, the purification plant was launched on 20 February 2019 and till now HDFC Life has adopted 12 locations in partnership with Piramal Sarvajal. 

Apart from the installation of the machine, Piramal Sarvajal’s team engages with the community every month to encourage them to adopt better health solutions. Also spreading awareness about health and water linkages along with different types of contamination that affect health.  Out of 618, 151 households are consistently having safe drinking water practices in a year because of overall improvement in health and quality of life. Water is precious and people of this village are sensitive to it.

Operator Vishal Patidaar is optimistic and happy to serve for the benefit of the community.  He likes to engage with the community and educates them with the importance of drinking water. He shared that initially he was encouraged by his friends and family to become the Operator of the plant. 

Soak Pit to store Reject water from the Purification Unit

The new product development team of Sarvajal has taken an initiative named Multi Aquafier Recharge System (MARS), to ensure source sustainability along with safe disposal of reject water of RO plants. 1.67 lakh litres of water injected into the source/aquifer against an expectation of 1.08 lakh litres. Substantial reduction in TDS of water from source and a complete re-use of reject water.

Raw water source and Hand pump facility in the village

Gulaab ji, Wife of Ashok Patidaar 

“We take 15 litres of water from Sarvajal plant. My son brings water or otherwise our helper gets the water. My husband is an Advocate and insisted we take only Sarvajal water”

Krishna Paatidar

“We have a tractor showroom at four different places in Madhya Pradesh. We take 30-40 litres per day for our nearby showroom and for home as well. We are total 9 members in the family. Earlier we used to drink water from our domestic purifier. After the installation of Sarvajal machine we stopped using domestic RO as it is expensive to maintain.”

Deepak Patidaar 
“My 13 years old son usually get Sarvajal water. He takes two can of 5 litres as it is easy for us to carry. I have relief in joint pain and indigestion”

 

Wife of Abhay Singh Tomar

Earlier we used  untreated water because of which my kids faced a lot health issues and as suggested by the doctor, we switched to Sarvajal water. It’s been more than 3 months that we are using it for drinking and cook food. We are satisfied with the price and it being available anytime”.

Mukesh Paatidar

“My family has been drinking Sarvajal water right from its launch day.  We did have a Domestic purifier at home but it is highly expensive requiring regular maintenance and consuming electricity. The best part about Sarvajal is that we don’t have to pay on a monthly basis, it deducts the amount according to the litre dispense. Jitna use karoge utna hi paisa katega”

Sachiv, Omprakash Patidaaar shared “I am happy with the services provided by Sarvajal. They have taken an initiative for Jan kalyaan. Even the  team has taken an initiative on Water Conservation. They created a soak pit to store reject and rain water near the Purification Unit.

SEMS data showing a monthly pattern between 200-300 litre dispensed on a daily basis

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Safe water leads to healthy life

Kharsan, Rajasthan Adopted by Standard Chartered Bank

Kharsan village in Bhinder,Udaipur,Rajasthan has a population of 2905 people with about 655 households. The people live a simple life and earn their living by farming and other family businesses. Village literacy rate is 66.3% and people have a monthly income ranging from 5000 to 15000.

Our team conducted baseline survey to dipstick the awareness and perception of drinking water and related habits. People based ‘taste’ of water as a parameter for quality of water. They had salt deposits on their utensils, they felt TDS and acidic contamination was a major impurity in their water. They were dependent on groundwater with average TDS of 2100ppm as source of drinking water so joint pains and discoloration of teeth were highly common. Some of them used had domestic RO or purchased from private vendors at Rs 15/- for 20 litres. 97% (31/32 households) of the people expressed dissatisfaction over quality of water and need for safe drinking water. 

Partnership: 

Standard Chartered Bank under their CSR initiative adopted 17 villages across 7 states in India to provide access to safe drinking water to these villages. One such village is Kharsan, Rajasthan where in 2017 a 500lph machine with water ATM was installed to serve safe drinking water to the villagers. 

How to become a Sarvajal Customer:

A customer has to get a RFID card from our Sarvajal Kendra then recharge with the operator for ongoing use. Our team made 254 members card and till date 599801.3 liters of water has been dispensed. 

How to use the RFID card:

Step 1: Place the card on the screen of the ATM. 

Step 2: The balance of the card and TDS of the water is displayed.

Step 3: He chooses to withdraw water as per his wishes as our ATM allow flexible dispensing and pays only for water taken by him. 

Changes after the intervention:

A midline survey was done in 2018 showed that

• 44% of the population has been fetching water from more than a year. 

• Among 16 households, 56% of them shared that they have experienced reduced in medical                     expenses 

• 69% of households have lesser number of water borne diseases. 

• Drinking water from Sarvajal Kendra was also a matter of pride for the consumers that have been         surveyed. 

• They acknowledged the importance of the water quality as it is beneficial to them. 

The Operator’s Voice:

“There are more than 253 cards; I consider this as Sewa ; Agar kisi bhi vajah se atm is pani nahi milta hai toh mein Seva ke taur pe aise hi pani de dete hu, log 800meter door se bhi aate hai paani lene toh unko aese khaali nahi jaane dete” – Operator Radhe Shyam

                                                                                                                                                                      

“As the sarvajal Kendra closeby my house I go and fetch water at any time in a day. Three years back a team came from Delhi to conduct research on water, later the reports came and the percentage of acid and fluoride was high. After knowing this, my family decided to take water through RO tankers from Kheroda Village (near to Kharsan) for 15 lts for 20 Rs. Now, ever since Sarvajal Kendra is in our village, it’s easy to go and take water. I have relief from joint pain and acidity”

 –Shaanta Manariya, Home Maker.  

She has done 425 transactions of 4198.1 Litres till date (Data from SEMS; Sarvajal Enterprise Management System).

“We take Sarvajal Water even though we have a borewell at home as it tastes good” –Rekha ji  ( 169 transactions of 2071.9 Liters till date)

“We get water from the Sarvajal plant as most of us find domestic RO very expensive”– Vipul Manera (636 transactions of 7397.3 Liters till date)

“When we got to know from the people that the quality of water is good, it motivated us to take water from Sarvajal plant.We take water everyday and have seen health improvements in my family” – Shyam Lal (617 transactions of 8792.5 Litres till date)

“We use filtered water from panchayat(Sarvajal) machine for our drinking purpose only. I realized that my constant painful joints have relived after continuous use of Sarvajal.However we use borewell water for cooking as the water gets boiled while cooking the food; Khana banate waqt ubal jaata hai toh usme hi kaam le lete hai, Kitaanu bhi hat jaate hai”- Suresh’s wife (342 transactions of 4756.4 Liters till date)

”We trust our Operator; he is the one who is serving every one of us. Some of us cannot afford domestic RO so use of this service at an affordable price is the best thing about your service.” - Ishwar Lal and Nana Lal

SEMS data showing a monthly pattern of liter dispensed on a daily basis

Our internal impact assessments have showed: 

• Marked difference in the behaviors of the people towards drinking water.

• Our community engagement activities of safe drinking water facilities have created awareness                amongst the people.

• They appreciate the price at which it is made available to everyone. 

• The card recharge is extremely easy and found facility clean and hygienic managed by a friendly             operator.

This intervention is changing the health of the community as 44% people moved to safe drinking water practices from more than a year because of health benefits and overall improvement in their quality of life. Water is precious and the people of this village are sensitive to it. There is awareness on water conversation as 2 houses had rain water being harvested in a structured way.

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Making water Convenient

Bimalpura is a large village in Jaipur district of Rajasthan, having a population of 2,018 and 297 houses in total. The majority of their livelihood comes from farming and labour work. The main challenges that the village face is the unavailability of safe drinking water. The facility of borewell water has 1460 TDS. (Source: Baseline Report)

Aligning with the issue faced by the community, baseline research was conducted by the Impact Assessment team of Sarvajal. It shows that all the surveyed households were highly dissatisfied with the quality of drinking water and 94% face difficulty in access and availability.

 Thusly to resolve the challenge of the community, Standard chartered’s CSR initiative synergised with Piramal Sarvajal, a social enterprise working specifically towards safe, accessible and affordable drinking water by leveraging technology. The Bank adopted Sarmaliya and through its implementing partner Sarvajal, installed a water purification unit on 25 May 2018

Till now, Standard Chartered has adopted 22 villages by setting up community-level purification plants with Water ATM.

After the Installation, Piramal Sarvajal’s team engages with the community every month to spread awareness about health and water linkages. They appreciate the price at which it is made available to everyone and have eased from the previous challenge of the lack of accessibility. Out of 297, 167 households moved to safe drinking water practices because of overall improvement in their quality of life.

Door Delivery helps women to take charge in decision-making for water 

It’s been three months since I’ve started taking water from Sarvajal Home delivery service. The taste is good and I could feel relief in my stomach.”- Mohini Ji

“The services of Sarvajal are good. I am amazed with the price of water which is available at only 10 Rs per camper.” - Seeta Devi Ji

“In my village, borewell water has fluoride contamination and feels salty in taste. It is been 8 months since I am taking Sarvajal water which is high in quality.”- Chigna Devi

Pride of providing first access to safe water

“I am glad that I got the opportunity to provide quality water at the doorstep of my villagers. It gives me a feeling of pride that people are happy and satisfied with the services of Sarvajal” -Shravan Kumar Yadav, Operator

(Sarvajal Enterprise Management System) SEMS showing the daily pattern of data ranging between 700-1200 of litre dispense during summer season

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Safe water is a blessing!

Story by: Barnini Chatterjee (Volunteer) 
Location- Dwarka Sector-3 adopted by Delhi Jal Board

Providing safe, accessible and affordable water to the underserved communities has always been Piramal Sarvajal’s mission. With increasing cases of COVID-19 across the country, we have seen prolonged lockdown and disrupted services everywhere. There has been a constant fear about everything related to jobs and making basic needs meet especially for the community living in Dwarka Sector 3. 

Fortunately, Sarvajal has been able to continue to support the locals here by providing uninterrupted service even in these uncertain times. We caught up with 3 users while they were at the plant to get water, and they shared their experience with us. 

Consumer Md. Shakeel filling up a can to take back home

Md. Shakeel has been a user of Sarvajal for the past year and is quite satisfied with the service. A family of 4, currently living on rent in the area; strongly feel that because of using Sarvajal, there has been no major sickness or any water-borne diseases. The family consumes about 500-600 litres monthly, and feel it is highly affordable and safe.  Shakeel quotes ‘’yeh meetha paani, tanker jaisa nahin hai. COVID-19 ke dauran swacch paani milna mushkil nahin hua- Sarvajal se kabhi bhi koi bhi card se paani le saakte hai’’. He also adds that the community has largely benefitted since there are no long queues and everyone can get water as per their requirement.

Consumer Om Prakash sharing his experience while taking water
Another resident Om Prakash, who has been using Sarvajal for 2 years, echoes the same sentiment. The convenience of the recharge system makes it easy and hassle-free to get drinking water for his family. Consuming around 1000 litres, the 5 member family, are being extra cautious due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and are strictly following good hygiene practices. He added, ‘’Mohalle mein kisiko koi pareshaani nahin hai, kyounki hum sabko swach aur surakshit paani mil raha hai.’’

Vijay Kumar seen collecting water in empty cans

Vijay Kumar who lives with 6 of his family members in A Block shares “Hum pichle 3 saal se hi Sarvajal ka paani istemaal kar rahe hai. Paani ekdum filter RO jaisa hai, saaf aur meetha; koi ghar mein bimaar bhi nahin hota’’ Vijay and his family consume 900 litres monthly and are quite satisfied with the system of the water card where there is no specific time to collect the water.

Before Sarvajal, the community had no source of regular clean water and would end up spending 250 for 1000 litres, with the exception of few NGO’s and social workers’ occasional involvements and water supply. However, the residents of Dwarka Sec 3 have unanimously agreed that the quality and taste of Sarvajal has been by far the best.

Sarvajal ensures to continue connecting with more families and hear of positive stories from them; where the communities keep getting the benefits of access to safe drinking water in these unprecedented times. 

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Breaking the traditional barriers!!

Sarmaliya an interior village in Ajmer, Rajasthan has a population of 1354 and 289 households. The village comprises of mixed community and cultures sharing inclusivity as well as a sense of belongingness. The majority of their livelihood comes from Labour jobs. The village faces water scarcity due to the unavailability of drinking water sources as their only sources are Municipality tankers (which comes once a week) and a borewell that has 2680 TDS. (Source: Baseline Report)

Source: Baseline Report of Sarvajal 

Baseline study done by the Impact Assessment team of Sarvajal highlighted all the surveyed households of Sarmaliya were highly dissatisfied with the quality of drinking water and 94% face difficulty in access and availability. 

Source: Baseline Report of Sarvajal 

IndusInd Bank under its CSR initiative, Hinduja Foundation’s Jal Jeevan project which is a flagship program, adopted this village with Piramal Sarvajal (a social enterprise working specifically towards safe, accessible and affordable drinking water by leveraging technology) as an implementing partner. A 1000lph water purification unit was installed at the centre of the village on 14 February 2019. In all, IndusInd Bank has adopted 35 villages in 5 districts of UP and Rajasthan by setting up community-level purification plants with Water ATM.

After the Installation, Piramal Sarvajal’s team engages with the community every month to spread awareness about health and water linkages. Consumers appreciate the price at which it is made available to everyone and have ease from previous challenges. They shared “Sarvajal water is affordable and the easy access makes us feel comfortable to fetch anytime” 

Affordability and Accessibility gives women freedom to choose Sarvajal

 ”Ab Sarvajal paani ka hi taste accha lagta hai, mai toh permanent yahi leti hu. Naye daur mai nayi cheezo ke sath hi chalna samjhdaari ka kaam hai”

- Kanchan Devi, Sarmaliya, Raj

 ”Waise toh paani hume tanker aur borwell se bhi milta hai par Sarvajal ka paani gunavatta wala hai aur hum accha mehsoos hota hai”

 - Ratan Ji and Renu Ji,  Sarmaliya, Raj

“Sarvajal ka paani kam daam mai milta hai, mai ya meri choti behen kabhi bhi jaake paani le aate hai”

 - Sunita Chaudhary, Sarmaliya, Raj

Connecting with Youth

Being an operator Surendra Ji is also working as a youth president in panchayat, he shares that “I am able to reach out to the community and motivate them to take healthy steps towards their lifestyle”

- Surendra Kadiwal, Operator, Sarmaliya, Raj 

Out of 289, 88 households are consistently having safe drinking water practices within a year because of overall improvement in health and quality of life.

(Sarvajal Enterprise Management System) SEMS showing the data ranging between 700-1200 of litres dispense on a daily basis during summer season) Average production per day shows 700 litres 

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Sustainable Water Solutions to empower communities

Kalaliya is a large village located in Jaora Tehsil of Ratlam district, Madhya Pradesh with total 843 families residing in it. The main source of drinking water in this village is tube well, supplied to them via piped connection to their house. 97% (32/33) of households depend upon it even though the TDS is 900. 

The intervention of Safe Drinking water is required because- 

Quality of water: During an internal survey, 94% (31/33) of respondents rated their drinking water quality as poor.

Willingness to Purchase: 91%(30/33) of households have shown a willingness to purchase drinking water from Sarvajal plant and are willing to spend between INR 150 – INR 300 on it per month. Also, 73% (24/33) of households are willing to opt for home delivery at an additional cost.

Medical Expenses: 40% of households earn between INR 5001 -15,000 per month, on an average spend 3.1% i.e. INR 400 of their monthly income on medical expenses.

In such challenging situation, Standard Chartered Bank adopted this village by setting up community-level purification plant with Water ATM. Water is dispensed from the ATMs by swiping the RFID card provided to the consumers. These ATMs are remotely monitored and cloud-connected to the central management system by Sarvajal to ensure last-mile delivery, price transparency, pay per use and quality assurance. With the increased demand the plant has Hub and Spoke model and provides water to 4 nearby villages through Water ATMs. 

At the start of the intervention, a Village Water Committee (11 members) was formed that focused on the community as a collective. It built a sense of ownership and commitment for the project. Poonam Ji is the operator of the purification plant and is working consistently towards the cause. The village has accepted woman as operator and committee members to take up such opportunities and lead in her own community thereby broadening the perceptions of the community.

Operator Pooman Ji narrates "Life has started with a new beginning and I am excited to learn a lot. I finish all the household chores in the day so that I can meet more customers in the morning and evening. Serving water is a noble cause and for this, I got the support and confidence from home that every woman should get. I keep learning from the members of VWC on how I can manage the plant and customers effectively”

The NGO partner Enable Health Society‘s team engages with the community every month to encourage them to adopt better health solutions to consider long-term benefits. Spread awareness about health and water linkages along with different types of contamination that affect health.

After a certain period of time, our consumers have acknowledged the importance of water quality as it is beneficial to them. ­­­­­­­­

Voice of consumer 

Consumer Ranjit Patidaar says "Sarvajal water is precious to me as it takes care of my family's health. I take 20 litres water daily"

Ram Babu says “Meri poti ko saaf paani paani hi pilaana hai, hume bachpan mein nahi mila par humare baccho aur poore parivaar ke liye sarvajal ka saaf paani hi lete hai”

Suresh Chand Patidaar says, “Ab Sarvajal ke paani ka hi taste accha lagta hai, card dwara paani milta hai lene mai bhi aasan hai. Kabhi kabhi mere bacche bhi jaake le aate hai”

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Breaking Stereotypes

I recently visited Dhikwar village in Rajasthan adopted by Standard Chartered Bank in collaboration with the technical partner Piramal Sarvajal to provide easy access to safe and affordable drinking water. 

(The total population of the village is 2743 and 275 households. ~source: baseline impact study of Sarvajal. The existing source water is provided through the stand posts, situated in 9 different corners of the village. The source has TDS- 1,135 ppm to 2,845 ppm. Furthermore, it is crucial to note that 94% (31/33) of respondents rated their drinking water quality as poor.)

On my first meeting with newly appointed operator Pooja Ji, I sensed her insecurities which is though common in rural India. Her head and entire face were covered with a veil and her voice was low. I felt skeptical that time whether she would be able to manage the tasks of being an operator or not. 

I spent 2 days with her while we were doing pre-launch awareness and behaviour based activities. During the interactions with the community, I was amazed to see that she came out to be a quick learner. After sometime her strong willpower was observed to speak to the villagers and accompany me in the conversations. 

It says, “you can’t be what you can’t see”. Everything was so new to her she shared and affirmed “Aap aache se samjha denge toh mai kar lungi” 

At launch, I saw an altogether new person who was learning about the machine and its process. After sometime, I asked her "could you now demonstrate to me what all you have learnt from our field engineer. She instantly started the machine and at that moment I could see her head was high with pride and dignity without her ghunghat on her face. 

Villagers also appreciated her and congratulated her for getting the opportunity to showcase her talent. 

One of the government senior school teachers said to me that “you have chosen a deserving person as she has faced financial uncertainties in her life, the livelihood will help her to manage her kids and socio-economic condition shall improve. Pooja already has experience with Machines and she understands things quickly so operating the machine won’t be an issue. Sarvajal will indeed play an uplifting role in her life ”

People's belief on her made me feel nostalgic and I felt that every woman should get such opportunities and leadership to take in her community thereby challenging the stereotypes. 

On being asked about her experience after a few days of launch, she spoke to me confidently and said "Vaishali hum abhi kaafi logo se baat chit kar rahe hai.. log ek doosre ko dekhkar prerit ho rahe hai aur paani ka card humse banwa rahe hai”

It was a moment of contentment to see that the community has accepted a female taking role of leadership and management and was empowered to live a dignified life. At the same time, I felt satisfying to witness financial upliftment in pooja Ji's life. Not only this, it was delightful as she would now constantly expand her horizon on daily basis.

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