New Delhi Aug 1: As India grapples with its worst water crisis in history, tech-giant Microsoft, and an Indian start-up FluxGen have worked together to produce a software which has reduced water usage in two hospitals in Bangalore by 50 percent and can then be scaled nationally to solve India’s water woes.
The tech companies will deploy their advanced sensor fusion, AI, and IoT technologies to identify and mitigate leaks, wastage, and excessive usage in hospitals and other industries.
The project has started at St. Martha’s Hospital and another reputed multi-speciality hospital in Whitefield, in Bangalore, which saw the worst water crisis earlier this year.
Thousands of techies fled Bangalore, home to India’s top tech companies, and started working from home or other cities after the acute water crisis made life unsustainable for the residents.
The Bangalore water crisis also became a major political issue during the recently concluded Parliament elections.
With only 0.5% of Earth’s water readily usable, India already faces a severe water crisis affecting approximately 600 million people, leading to an estimated 200,000 deaths annually due to inadequate access to safe water.
By 2030, India’s water demand is projected to double the available supply, potentially impacting millions and the country’s GDP, as highlighted in the Interconnected Disaster Risks Report of October 2023.
UNICEF analysis further reveals that 347 million children in South Asia face high or extremely high water scarcity, the highest globally.
As the water crisis in the country is deepening, affecting major cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi, the solutions provided by Microsoft and FluxGen Sustainable Technologies, a Bangalore-based provider of AI and IoT-powered industrial water management solutions, could make a major difference in water conservation.
FluxGen will implement its AI and IoT powered end-to-end water management solutions throughout the hospital facilities to advance water replenishment initiatives in Indian hospitals and other industries.
India’s nearly 70,000 hospitals, including 44,000 private institutions, are major water consumers, alongside industries such as energy, fashion, meat, beverages, construction, mining, and automotive.
Health facilities with fewer than 100 beds require approximately 350 litres of water per bed per day, escalating to around 400 litres per bed per day for larger hospitals.
“This collaboration aligns with FluxGen’s mission to save a billion litres of water everyday. By reducing the water footprint of these reputed hospitals, we would like to assist them in becoming exemplary projects in water stewardship. And the money saved on water and related electricity and maintenance costs, can help them serve more patients and further their mission, “ said Ganesh Shankar, Founder and CEO of FluxGen.
“The deployment of our solutions is expected to cut water consumption by 50% in each hospital,” Shankar said. “By optimising existing water infrastructure and integrating new technology, we aim to significantly reduce water consumption, increase water availability within the facilities, and reduce water delivery costs for these institutions,” he said.
The company has already gained support from existing top-tier clients, including the Aditya Birla Group, Vedanta and Amazon and was directly endorsed by Prime Minister Modi in his “Mann ki Baat” address. FluxGen also won the Microsoft Entrepreneurs for Positive Impact Cup 2024.
“We are looking forward to making immense leaps in saving and managing water effectively across our hospital facilities. We hope this project will not only set a benchmark in water conservation for hospitals across India, but also positively impact the communities around us,” said Appachan J. Kuttiyath, director of St. Martha’s Hospital.
FluxGen’s solution leverages Microsoft Azure for secure cloud storage and data analysis. It has also launched a GenAI based tool powered by Microsoft technology that offers instant analytics, predictions and solutions to improve water management efficiency, customised to the facility’s water data, for informed decision making.
This initiative is expected to contribute substantially to water conservation efforts of these hospitals in water-stressed regions.
“We are focused on five key pillars to achieve this water positive goal: reducing water use intensity, replenishing more water than we consume, increasing access to water and sanitation services for people across the globe, driving innovation to scale water solutions, and advocating for effective water policy,” said Eliza Roberts, Water Lead at Microsoft. “The collaboration with FluxGen on this impactful project is part of our work to become water positive by 2030,” Roberts said.
