India generates a staggering 1.7 million tonnes of faecal waste a day and 78% of the sewage generated remains untreated and is disposed of in rivers, groundwater or lakes. The two main sources of water contamination are sewage and industrial waste. The volume of wastewater is rising at an alarming rise as the population of India and its industrial landscape keeps increasing at a phenomenal speed. The shrinking of freshwater sources like rivers, wells, and groundwater worsens the situation.The situation is worsened by the shrinking of freshwater sources like rivers, wells, and groundwater. The wastage caused due to 40% of water being lost due to leaking pipes, adds an additional pressure on the limited resource. Lack The lack or absence of reliable maps with urban local bodies makes it difficult to identify the location of the pipe, which can extend the process of digging for pipes.

Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is an issue with almost all water supply utilities in India. It includes physical and commercial losses and free authorised water for which payment is not collected. As per a World Bank report from 2020, the average NRW in India is around 38%, just above the global average range of 30% to 35%. Fluid Robotics has developed an AI-based wastewater surveillance robot for monitoring the health of water and wastewater infrastructure, thus helping cities intercept, divert, treat and significantly reduce chemical pollution. The company’s offerings include a hardware platform for mapping underground pipeline networks and a software platform for managing and analysing data about pipelines, windmills and crops, enabling clients to reduce water pollution.

The robot is tethered and is able tocan move through the pipes to map underground networks, inspect the flow and quality of water, and capture the pipe’s health. The robotic equipment easily reaches difficult and blocked spaces reaches difficult and blocked spaces easily by providing accurate defect data. This technology removes the human component in the dirty and dangerous job of inspecting deep pipelines and also reduces human effort in data interpretation reduces human data interpretation effort. Their systems help to identify structural defects, O&M failure modes, construction features, etc., in water and wastewater pipelines while following stringent international standards. The data gathered and analysed helps prevent water leakages, sanitary sewer overflows and monsoon flooding. It also helps cities to make a data-informed decision to maximize the re-use of water by prevention of breaks and leaks in pipes and minimize water pollution by the identification of the water contaminants at the source itself.

Implementation & Impact

The “Pipeline Mapping & Condition Assessment Platform” – (a robotic system that maps and inspects underground pipelines to survey lines with a minimum diameter of 150mm/6inch) is being used to digitize pipeline data in several cities in India, to clearly understand the impact of structural defects or deposits on pipeline age and capacity. Their first two projects MCGM (Powai Lake and Mithi River rejuvenation) helped them intercept, divert, and treat over 400 MLD of untreated wastewater previously entering water bodies, without the need to buildbuilding new treatment capacity. They have prevented thousands of hours of manual scavenging/hazardous cleaning and identifiedbeen able to prevent thousands of hours of manual scavenging/hazardous cleaning and identify over 20 MLD of water leaks.

In Pune, Fluid Robotics has also deployed its technology for the abatement ofto abate pollution along the 22 km stretch of the River Mula-mutha. Fluid Robotics works with the government and offers solutions through tenders. It also formed strategic partnerships with large private companies in different geographies. They are also scaling to ten cities across the country.

In 2018, Fluid Robotics won the Best Water Instrumentation and Automation’ Automation company at the Water Awards in New Delhi, and was elected as one of India’s Top 25 Impact Ventures by the 7th Action for India (AFI) Forum. It was also named one of India’s top ten innovative start-ups by Socioconnect, an initiative by the US Consulate General Mumbai and BVIC.

Last few years have seen incredible progress of in sanitation services in India. However, no attention has been given to the plight of millions of sanitation workers, who work in extremely hazardous and inhumane conditions directly handling human waste who work across the FSM value chain. They work in extremely hazardous and inhumane conditions, directly handling human waste. These workers face significant health problems and have 15 years less lifespan in comparison tothan the average human. Besides this, they may die while cleaning the septic tanks. Furthermore, these workers work on informal labor contracts with for less than the minimum wage. They are socially ostracized due to India’s deeply entrenched cultural and caste divides the deeply entrenched cultural and caste divides in India (women are affected the most). Existing efforts to address these concerns are largely restricted to uni-dimensional “human-rights” solutions, and there has been a lack of strategic focus.

Due to the recent increase in reportage around sanitation workers in the media, many people have become aware of the problems faced by sanitation workers and the vulnerable conditions that they live in. There has been a surge in the number of organizationsorganisations, companies and NGOs who want to work on this issue. The problems are many, and thereforeso it’s difficult to decide which issue to tackle first and how to go about it.

Dalberg Advisors, in its pioneering landscaping study, suggests tangible solutions and lays out a road map for how they multiple issues can be resolved by organisations, companies, governments and NGOs. achieved. They have developed cards that act as a plug and playplug-and-play for these very solutions by governments, the private sector and civil society. The deck of 57 cards can be used to learn, ideate and create tangible solutions for sanitation workers. They are a tool designed to help anyone who wants to help sanitation workers choose what type of worker they want to target (street cleaners, FSM plant workers or sewer cleaners, amongst others), which demographic or persona they would like to focus on and then narrow down the solution which would work best. Furthermore, the cards eliminate many steps organisations usually go through when designing a programme by making, making it more streamlined. These cards can be utilized to ‘create your own’ own solutions that people are most interested in implementingmost want to implement. The deck is divided into 4 sections – types of sanitation work, different personas of sanitation workers, insights and possible solutions. Dalberg Advisors envisages these to be used for:

• Diagnosing the problem,
• Understanding the reasons,
• Identifying solutions.

Implementation & Impact

Dalberg Advisor’s innovation has been adopted by 10-12 states, 50-100 ULBs and at least 10-15 civil society organizations for designing their sanitation worker focusedworker-focused programs. In total, 250,000+ sanitation workers have benefitted from services and products that get designed based on the insight carried in these cards. The innovation ensures the upliftment of every sanitation worker and gives them a dignified life.

The company wishes to host workshops with states and municipal leaders of the top 10 cities in India (including Telangana). They have already shown great interest and have taken positive steps toward becoming ODF++. The one-day workshop would use these cards to help commissioners to ideate potential pilots in their own districts which can help workers. Once they come up with the solution they are interested in championing, the company will work with them to pilot these solutions and then scale them to the entire district. Dalberg can identify and support a non-profit organization that can run these workshops. It would like to repeat the same exercise with every ULB in India once its first round of piloting is completed.

Sanitation workers in India sacrifice their life and dignity to maintain a city’s civic infrastructure. The current methodology of manual entry for sewer and septic tank cleaning often results in occupational health hazards or fatalityfatalities. While the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSRA, 2013)” has specifically laid down the procedures to be followed before, during and post a man’s entry, the ULBs ULB’s lack of hardware for compliance to these implementation rules leads to premature deaths of the sanitation workers thereby completely crippling their family, both economically and socially.

Kam Rescue Van, India’s first chassis-mounted emergency rescue van, is under the approval stage with CPHEEO. The Kam Rescue Van enables a ULB to comply with the procedures to be followed before, during and post a person’s entry to prevent illnesses and death, as laid down in the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. The Kam Rescue Van possesses the required hardware (personal protective equipment, safety devices, tools, etc.) for the compliance and implementation ofto comply and implement these procedures. It maximizes maximises the safety of the sanitation workers and minimizes minimises fatalities and other health hazards.

Implementation & Impact

While the service of Kam Rescue Van has not been operationalised yet, it is expected to create a huge impact as the facility will improve the working conditions of sanitation workers, and will reduce the fatality rate among them. The sanitation workers would now enter the sewer under the prescribed working conditions and be adequately prepared as per the directions given by PEMSRA, 2013 on wearing the PPE. The working conditions for the sanitation workers would be much safer and more hygienic. The fatality rate is also expected to come down drastically. The service will also eliminate the cost incurred for medical expenses due to the occupational health hazards suffered.

Kam-Avida Enviro Engg. Pvt. Ltd. also plans to conduct a behavioral change campaign for the Swachhagrahis to create awareness amongst them onof the importance of adopting safety measures.

Manual scavenging has since centuries been designated to the most vulnerable caste in the social hierarchy of the caste system. The municipalities and government bodies responsible for sewer/septage cleaning systems continue to employ directly or indirectly the services of these marginalized communities, who are exploited and have no avenues for socio-economic development. Worst of all, the lives of these labourers are at stake due to the hazardous nature of the work, and lack of safety precautions or equipment provision. provision of safety precautions or equipment.

To address this issue in Karnataka, Thamate [1] developed a social innovation, the “Community-Based Monitoring Approach”, to organise the informal sanitation workers into an empowered collective network. Thamate is a community-based organization that was founded in 2006 to work with the most marginalized communities to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and aid the comprehensive development of the community.

Key Thematic Areas:

Eradication of manual scavenging practice, including legal interventions
Improving education among families of Safai Karmacharis
Improving the health status of families of Safai Karmacharis

Implementation & Impact

To eradicate Manual Scavenging, Thamate is acting at three levels: preventive, rehabilitative and affirmative in Karnataka.

Firstly, since those who work as manual scavengers are often those employed as Safai Karmacharis by various Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Gram Panchayats (GPs), Thamate is actively focused on organizing the Safai Karmacharis by through the formation of Community-based Monitoring Groups (CBMG). The objective of the formation offorming these CBMGs is to build capacity among the workers themselves to be able to demand various entitlements related to labour, health, housing, drinking water, etc.

Thamate’s approach differs from other such efforts as it seeks to promote leadership among them via themselves instead of organizing workers through supervisors or maestris. The CBMGs identify critical workplace issues faced by members, address the day-to-day problems of the members by holding meetings with officials of ULBs independently without the need for topdown management and link up at the district and state level SK/MS organizations organisations to participate in the larger advocacy efforts. The CBMGs federate under the banner of Safai Karmachari Kavulu Samithi (SKSS), a state-level collective of Safai Karmachari unions (sanghas). The final goal is to work towards the economic and social security of the community so that there is no compulsion to work as manual scavengers.

Secondly, SKKS has been tracking and addressing the accounts of the death of persons in the process of being employed as Manual Scavengers such as deaths while entering sewers, maintenance holes, etc., since its formation in 2007[1] . On getting information about these incidents, the SKKS personnel conduct fact-finding exercises in collaboration with like-minded human rights and Dalit organizations. Recourse to legal interventions like registering complaints and filing FIRs, demanding the statutory compensation as per the Supreme Court Order (W.P. (CIVIL) NO. 583 OF 2003), etc. is taken to enforce the provisions of the 2013 Act and create deterrence against the practice of Manual Scavenging.

Lastly, the PEMSR Act 2013 provides for the identification of manual scavengers and their rehabilitation. The reluctance of state governments in state governments’ reluctance acknowledgingto acknowledge the practice of manual scavenging and hazardous cleaning within their jurisdiction has been the biggest hurdle in moving forward with its eradication. Thamate and SKKS have been working towards submittingsubmission of self-declaration forms with evidence of persons having been engaged in manual scavenging and pushing the ULBs for their identification and rehabilitation
Do we have access to the information that Thamate is capturing?

The activities of SKSS can be summed up as follows:

• Identification of those working or having worked as manual scavengers;
• Demolition/conversion of insanitary latrines;
• Rehabilitation of those identified as manual scavengers;
• Development of infrastructure to eliminate cleaning of manholes, septic tanks, soak pits, open drains, etc. and
• Justice to the families of those who have died while engaged in manual scavenging tasks.

CEO/MD/Founder: Dr. K B Obalesha
Organization: Thamate Yeae of estbalishment: 2006
Contact: +91-9742586468 | obaleshkb@gmail.com

“>Water and sanitation are two fundamental needs of any human being. In India, we face enormous challenges in providing universal access to both. In the water industry for example, while on one side we have 88 million people who lack access to safe water and have states where more than 40% of cities are drought-hit, we have non-revenue water (NRW, water losses in pipeline distribution) going as high as 40-50%, just in distribution losses. The case for sanitation, sewer line and septic tank cleaning, is even worse. Even after significant advancement in technology, manual scavenging is still rampant, leading to deaths, accidents and diseases despite being made illegal according to the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. As per market research, one of the major problems in these sectors is the lack of automation and organization.

Solinas Integrity is an IIT Madras incubated Startup working in the water and sanitation industry and aims to solve both aspects of the problem. They have developed two robots with features as follows:

HomoSEP: The HomoSEP robot is designed to homogenize septic tank hard sludge and suck out the tank slurry using a vacuum pump. This HomoSEP robot will aid sanitation workers in cleaning the hard sludge without entering the potentially dangerous atmosphere of a septic tank. 
HomoSEP is a compact robot made up of five main modules. The bottom module can homogenize hard sludge with water to create a pumpable slurry, and the feeding machine module can push and pull the bottom module inside a septic tank manhole at a depth of 3-5 meters. The portable module is mounted on a mobile frame to hold the whole robot at actual septic tank sites. The electronic module is configured so that the entire robot can be operated by sanitation workers with a single remote. The suction module is intended to suck the homogenized slurry from the Septic tanks.
Figure 2 HomoSEP

Endobot: Solinas is developing a completely indigenous robot for pipeline inspections to reduce water losses and contamination. Endobot leverages visual techniques and image processing to detect defects inside the pipeline and do condition assessments. It is a remotely-operated and has a tethered crawler robot that carries multiple sensors into the pipelines to perform the endoscopy to detect and locate various kinds of defects. The data from the pipeline is further analysed to understand the ovality & c-value of the pipeline. This is immensely useful for asset maintenance companies to manage their pipelines.

Implementation & Impact
Focused on water and sanitation, Solinas products have an enormous impact on society in all forms. Their pipeline inspection robot  water loss by 600 KL every day per kilometre of the pipeline monitoring which translates to an economic saving of INR 7 lakhs per km/month to the city. They also provide data that enables pipeline operators to maintain their assets well before they need to be replaced, ensuring five times cost savings. 

Detecting leaks in time ensures that the quality of water in the household is kept high and also helps in reducing groundwater contamination by detecting leaks in sewer lines. Similarly, the septic tank cleaning robot, HomoSEP promises to completely eliminate manual scavenging and provide safety and dignity to Safai Karamcharis. It also empowers the state to clean septic tanks efficiently with lesser costs, thereby improving both social and economic impact. IoT will be leveraged to ensure municipalities know about cleaning the tank well before it starts overflowing and contaminating the groundwater. 

They have received INR 10 lakhs from Tamil Nadu start-up grant & INR 45 lakhs from CSR support to build HomoSEP. They would also be receiving INR 37 lakhs from the Akamai CSR program. They have paid customers for their product Endobot across Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Bhubaneswar. 

In total, they have inspected more than 7500 meters of water and sewer pipelines and currently, 20 kilometers of pipeline inspections are in order. They are in partnership with Ulhasnagar Corporation in Maharashtra and are closely working with the Coimbatore corporation as well. In terms of pipeline inspection services, they are charging INR 150-250 rupees/meter of inspection. The Endobot product will be priced at INR 20 lakhs for sale of 1 unit including the robot, a display unit, camera and 200 meters of wire. The HomoSEP product is priced at INR 20 lakhs.

Solinas Integrity is the winner of the ISGF platinum awards 2020 and the National Bio Entrepreneurship competition 2019. They were also among the top eight regional finalists in the ASME Innovation Showcase conducted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2021.