How water derived from atmospheric air can help companies tackle the potable water deficit

“We all want to work for a company which is sensitive to the environment. And organizations which think of employees’ health and goodness of humanity have more chances to deliver better results in attracting talent,” says M Ramkrishna, Managing Director, Kistler-Morse Automation and Advisor to Maithri Aquatech.

By Abhishek Sahu

With increasing water scarcity and contamination, India is moving towards a future of potable water deficit. In an interaction with ETHRWorld, M Ramkrishna, Managing Director of Kistler-Morse Automation and Advisor to Maithri Aquatech, explains how with the help of HR leadership, a ‘new category’ of water derived from atmospheric air can help tackle the upcoming water shortage. Edited excerpts:

How Maithri Aquatech’s MEGHDOOT Water from Air systems is capable of relying on air to produce potable water?

The tech involved is the condensation technology, wherein the device absorbs the air and condenses it at the dew point level. At that level whatever humidity is present in the air is separated and water is collected subsequently. This is how the whole technology works, making water from general air. MEGHDOOT AWG (Atmospheric Water Generator) range includes capacities of 30, 100, 250, 500 & 1000 LPD (Litres Per Day), it can also be custom made depending on the water requirement.

According to you, why should especially HR leadership push for corporate reliance on alternative water solutions?

HR has overall responsibility, not only towards a particular company they are working in but also towards society and community at large. Today, the health of employees is extremely important especially concerning productivity level and wellness. If you see the cause of COVID cases is the lack of immunity. One of the reasons for this is the quality of water that we are drinking, so we need to provide pure water, that’s point one. Secondly, as part of social responsibility, HR’s role doesn’t end with employees and envisages their families too. And here HR has a larger responsibility to make sure that their employees and acquaintance are using healthy, environmental-friendly and sustainable resources. HR has the ability to sensitize the employee block of the corporation and leverage its skill to help make everyone an informed choice.

Now the water that MEGHDOOT produces, it is the purest form of water and we are using atmospheric air without touching groundwater. Certainly, here we are conserving water and saving it for our future generations.

How important is it for corporations to work towards sustainability in ensuring business longevity?

Corporations are also part of a larger ecosystem and they cannot stand in isolation on survivability question. Every business activity needs to be sustainable. Corporations have a larger responsibility towards the environment and should work in reducing global warming. Here again, HR’s role gets into play as they are the face of the company to the outside world.

How sustainable work environment and employer brand image is interrelated?

The world, going forward, will try to value only those organizations which are working for the good of environment and the planet. And people in future will be more ready to pay a premium. So eventually, brand visibility will be higher of those corporations who have adopted sustainable and environmental friendly work culture.

According to you, how better work environment enable corporations to attract a better and more responsible work-force?

We all want to work for a company which is sensitive to environment. And organizations which think of employees’ health and goodness of humanity have more chances to deliver better results in attracting talent. It is important to note, MEGHDOOT saves two litres of ground water on every one litre of atmospheric air-derived water. So here, it is clear that corporations using this ‘new category of water’ are saving flora fauna from environmental problems and humanity at large. Employees will always take this into account and love to work for such companies.

When was the product launched commercially? How has been the traction so far?

We had put this technology in 2018 and from thereon we have many clients including Indian Railways and other public sector companies. MEGHDOOT has given us extremely good results. For example, many MNCs such as Amazon are using our product. Amazon is one of our clients which is using MEGHDOOT. And today we are talking about water sustainability in large corporate IT companies. We have seen demands from many households too.

We are putting a 1 million litre water plant in Uganda. We have our bottling plant coming up in Zambia and Madagascar. Then we have large water hubs in Chennai and also Aquatech is putting an alkaline water plant in Hyderabad. And here it is important to understand that we re-mineralize the water by adding various minerals the human body needs. In that sense, we are not only providing purest but also healthy water.

Is there any particular area in which the product is more suitable?

The product, by and large, is needed everywhere but the productivity is high in areas having high humidity. Areas located near sea coast like Mumbai, and Vishakhapatnam will have greater output and cities like Nagpur, Hyderabad will have around 60 per cent of rated output.

What are the key challenges in making it widely implemented?

Wide implementation has to happen when there is policy support. I have been interacting and sensitizing various policymakers and people from Jal Shakti Ministry and all, while all appreciated and approved the idea but there are no policy incentives. We have subsidies for solar but for water we don’t have one. And as compared to solar energy conservation, water holds more importance since it directly impacts individual health. I think there should be some subsidies so that we can effectively tackle this climate change issue.

What’s the growth forecast for the next couple of years?

Due to contamination and non-availability of water, people around the world are looking for an alternative source. Today, not only this technology offers an alternative source but, as I have already mentioned, gives you healthy water. So this ‘new category’ of water apart from ground and surface is getting importance recently. People will benchmark this type of water with the purest form of water.

Inputs from Rahul Vaidya Asst. Vice President (Sales) Maithri Aquatech Pvt Ltd | Sales & Marketing and hr.economictimes

site: www.maithriaqua.com