Dr. B.P. Agrawal: inventor bags two awards for rainwater harvesting technology for India

Dr. B.P. Agrawal of Sustainable Innovations has won both the $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability and the 2010 Energy Globe World Award for his community-driven rainwater harvesting system.

Aakash Ganga: Access to Clean Water in Rural Areas

Funded with Agrawal’s first World Bank Development Marketplace Award, Aakash Ganga (AG), or River from Sky, is a rainwater harvesting system currently installed in six drought-prone villages in Rajasthan, the driest state in India. The AG system rents rooftops from homeowners and channels the rooftop rainwater through gutters and pipes to a network of underground storage reservoirs. This network of reservoirs is designed to provide 10 – 12 liters of water daily to every person in an entire village for a year; to-date, it has helped 10,000 villagers gain access to clean water. Agrawal is now working with the local, state and national governments for widespread adoption of AG.

AG’s holistic functionality is as vital to achieving large-scale success as is its transformative technology. Agrawal created a simple, self-sustaining execution plan – villagers rent their rooftops to others, enabling them to sell water and collect what they view as “free money.” 70 percent of harvested water is sold or used for individual families; the rest goes to horticulture. This dramatically improves sanitation, creates revenue to compensate each entrepreneur and covers operating costs. Additionally, the access to drinking water frees time for girls to attend school and women to be more economically productive.

Agrawal realized the importance of cultural acceptance early on, incorporating Jalwa Puja, an Indian tradition for mothers to worship at water wells, into AG’s execution. Mothers are invited to worship at the shared reservoirs; in turn, they become goodwill ambassadors and shield the tanks from potential sanitation issues. AG further economizes familial bonds to ensure low-cost maintenance by engraving local mason’s names onto the reservoirs. The recognition obligates villagers to take care of the reservoirs.

“AG demonstrates an alternative model that provisions water in lieu of the typical inefficient, poorly performing public works projects,” says Kirsten Spainhower, Portfolio Coordinator of the Development Marketplace, World Bank. “Agrawal’s system functions as a hybrid of a social enterprise and a public-private-community partnership, and takes great care to be attentive to social issues surrounding caste, class and gender.”

Agrawal’s rainwater harvesting system has indeed been a tremendous success, almost doubling the number of houses included in the original plan. Building on this initial accomplishment, the Indian government’s Ministry of Rural Development has expressed interest in implementing AG in 40 villages, for 100,000 people, and The Department of Science and Technology is evaluating Sustainable Innovations’ proposal to execute AG in 40 Rajasthan villages

Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability

The Lemelson-MIT Program announced Dr. Agrawal as recipient of the 2010 $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability on 28 April 2010. The awards was given not only for his community-driven rainwater harvesting system but also for the mobile health clinics that he developed for villagers in rural India.

Agrawal was selected as the winner of the prestigious prize by a distinguished panel of scientists, technologists, engineers and entrepreneurs. He will accept the award and present his innovations to the public at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the Lemelson-MIT Program’s fourth-annual EurekaFest, a multi-day celebration of the inventive spirit, June 16 – 19.

The Lemelson-MIT Program recognizes the outstanding inventors and innovators transforming our world, and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through innovation. Jerome H. Lemelson, one of U.S. history’s most prolific inventors, and his wife Dorothy founded the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994. It is funded by The Lemelson Foundation and administered by the School of Engineering. The Foundation sparks, sustains and celebrates innovation and the inventive spirit. It supports projects in the U.S. and developing countries that nurture innovators and unleash invention to advance economic, social and environmentally sustainable development. To date The Lemelson Foundation has donated or committed more than U.S. $150 million in support of its mission.

Energy Globe World Award

On World Environment Day, 5 June 2010, the audience at the Energy Globe award ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda, chose Dr. B.P. Agrawal as winner of the World Award. Dr. Agarwal’s rainwater harvesting system entry had already won first prize in the Water category.

The Energy Globe Award for Sustainability was initiated in 1999 by Wolfgang Neumann of Austria, CEO of the environmentally oriented GEG Agency in Austria. The annual environmental prize awards € 10,000 to winners of
five categories: earth, fire, water, air and youth.

Source: MIT, 28 Apr 2010 ; EnergyGlobe, 03 Jun 2010

Aamir Khan: Bollywood actor launches school sanitation drive

Indian actor Aamir Khan helped launch a campaign to promote cleanliness in schools across the country at a function in New Delhi on 27 April 2010. Mr. Khan is the Brand Ambassador of the National School Sanitation Initiative, a joint programme of the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) and the GTZ (Germany).

(L to R) Kapil Sibal, the Minister for Human Resource Development, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, Jaipal Reddy, Minister for Urban Development. Photo: Arne Panesar

Union human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal wants actor Aamir Khan to convey this message to school children: Wash your hands before eating. Drink clean water and inculcate clean habits.

Upset that only 9% school students wash their hands before eating and that many do not maintain hygiene, Sibal plans to educate students about sanitation at schools, through innovative ways. Knowing that his word will not have the desired impact, Sibal has roped in the actor.

Khan will be the government’s brand ambassador to promote healthy and clean habits among children. The minister feels students will listen to their favourite actor more carefully, and he was not wrong in his assessment about Khan’s popularity.

INX News video of the launch

At the launch function of the National School Sanitation Initiative, Khan was mobbed by about 1,000 fans seeking autographs. The students broke past the security ring, and for a change neither the actor nor the minister cribbed about it.

Zee News report of the launch (in Hindi)

Overwhelmed, Khan promised Sibal he will prepare campaign material to promote sanitation. Khan said he would record awareness packages to be distributed in schools in CD format or be made available on the internet.

A school sanitation manual which will become part of the CBSE curriculum was also released at the launch.

As part of the initiative, health and wellness clubs are being set up, initially in the more than 100 schools affiliated with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Visit the Urban School Sanitation Initiative web site

Source: DNA, 28 Apr 2010 ; HRDP.net, 27 Apr 2010 ; The Hindu, 28 Apr 2010

Mr. Khan’s role as Sanitation Ambassador has been satirized by NDTV, which features him on a clean up mission of India politics.

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority Wins Stockholm Industry Water Award 2010

In recognition of its world class performance in water supply and self-sufficiency, the Cambodian Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) under the leadership of General Director Ek Sonn Chan has been named the winner of the Stockholm Industry Water Award 2010.

Historically, the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, thrived by the rivers of Tonle Sap and the Mekong. However, decades of conflicts left the water supply system running low until the 1990s. In 1993 Mr. Ek Sonn Chan was appointed as General Director of the city’s Water Supply Authority (PPWSA). Together with his team, he managed to refurbish the whole supply system, introduce cost-effective billing and payment collection methods, as well as world class management to provide water to almost all of the city’s residents.

“The PPWSA has successfully fought corruption and shown this can be achieved in a developing country on a large-scale basis using simple but effective management techniques that are based on well-accepted business principles and strategies. As a self-sufficient company, operating without subsidies from the state, PPWSA today provides 24-hour service and 90 per cent coverage to a city of 1.3 million and fully recovers its costs as it continues to develop both its infrastructure and management,” said the International Award Jury in its citation. The PPWSA will receive the award during the World Water Week in Stockholm 2010, September 5-11.

A new drive towards a better future

Accepting the award on behalf of PPWSA, Mr. Ek Sonn Chan said the Stockholm Industry Water Award puts his organisation in the same league as other world class water industry organisations, reinforcing their drive towards achieving future objectives. “My team is encouraged by this prestigious award to carry on our mission to increase our collection efficiency, improve water regulation, and deliver affordable water to the poor. We will continue to work to provide water continuously for a price affordable by our society through good management and cost-recovery practices and despite increases in electricity and other costs,” he said.

In 1998, the PPWSA provided clean drinking water to all households in the city area. Water losses due to leakages in pipes and pumps declined from 72 per cent in 1993 to 6 per cent by 2008, which is very low in an international comparison. Meanwhile, the bill collection ratio reached over 98 percent – which improved the PPWSA’s costs-recovery. Today, the authority meets international standards as it provides leading edge services to its customers.

According to Mr. Ek Sonn Chan, the road ahead is full of ambition. “Our future goals pave a challenging road ahead, as we aim to expand water provision at the same rates and standards to Phnom Penh’s suburban areas and surrounding regions. We’re working on reducing water loss from current 5.9 percent to 4 percent by 2020, which would place us in the same league as Singapore and Tokyo. We will continue to improve the efficiency of our staff and revision practices as we work towards providing water at a cheaper price.”

Developing nations can achieve more

The PPWSA was supported by international donors in its efforts to reach where it is today. However, it managed to become entirely self-sustainable as it benchmarked itself against the best operators in both developing and developed nations. PPWSA’s work has contributed to visible improvements in public health and a reduction of constraints to industrial, social and economic developments in Cambodia’s capital.

“The PPWSA has a strong commitment to social and environmental responsibility. It has shown the developing world as a whole that large cities can expect continuous access to clean water. It stands as a role model for those committed to improving their business practices and increasing their level of service to customers. The PPWSA has now taken on the challenge to improve Phnom Penh’s sanitation system, and is also scheduled for an initial public offering on Cambodia’s new stock exchange later this year,” said the Jury in its citation.

Mr. Ek Sonn Chan is proud of the PPWSA’s achievement. “We provided an important role model for the development of our nation, Cambodia, which helped improve the country’s image internationally after decades of strife and conflict. Developing nations must believe in their own people’s capabilities to achieve their own goals,” he said.

Water revenues rise with customer increase

PPWSA revenues grew by 11 percent during the first five months of the year compared with the same period in 2009, Mr. Ek Sonn Chan said. The water authority generated 10 million U.S. dollars in unaudited revenues in 2010 to the end of May.

“The increase is the result of a rise in new customers as Phnom Penh recovers following the world economic crisis,” he was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

The authority generated an average of 2 million U.S. dollars per month since January from supplying water in Phnom Penh, an 11 percent rise from the 1.8 million averaged per month during the first five months last year, PPWSA statistics showed.

The PPWSA vends water at 0.25 U.S. dollar per cubic meter, kept cheap by maintaining a low loss rate around 6.3 percent, Ek Sonn Chan said.

It plans to expand production by building a third 80 million U. S. dollars water treatment station in late 2010, he said, able to produce some 130,000 cubic meters of water per day once complete.

Presently the PPWSA has two main water treatment stations able to produce a combined 300,000 cubic meters of water a day, distributed to customers through a 1,783-kilometer-long pipe network, according to information provided by the authority. The stations are located in Prek village and Chroy Changvar commune.

The authority plans to produce 430,000 cubic meters of clean water per day by 2015, distributed through a 2,300-kilometer -long network. It aims to distribute 560,000 cubic meters through 2,800 kilometers of pipeline by 2020.

Source: SIWI, 03 Jun 2010 ; Lin Zhi, Xinhua, 08 Jun 2010

To learn more about the PPWSA’s success story read the 2007 article by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) “An Exemplary Water Utility in Asia” and watch the ADB documentary “The Connection”

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3