Boson White Water is making Water From Sewage Treatment Plants Fit For Drinking

This Bengaluru-based startup takes water from sewage treatment plants and converts it into potable quality water used for household purposes and drinking.

India is already facing a water crisis, with 21 cities looking at running out of groundwater.

As the country's population rises to 1.6 billion by 2050, the problem will likely worsen during the following few decades.

The founder of Boson White Water, Vikas Brahmavar, returned to India from the UK in 2008 as he wanted to work to improve the water situation.

Founded in 2011, it transforms recycled water from sewage treatment plants, or STPs, into drinkable water. And use  them for domestic purposes like gardening or toilet flushing (and, technically, even for drinking).

The startup believes that water infrastructure in the country should be optimised for sustainability by recovering potable water from wastewater instead of relying entirely on rainwater.

Every Step is crucial

The system has created an 11-step filtering system by IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (artificial intelligence). To reduce the numerous physical, chemical, and biological impurities in treated wastewater,

The first four stages of BWW's 11-stage method involve passing treated wastewater through several filtration systems to use their "unique filters" to lessen the turbidity, odour, and iron that are present in the water.

For turbidity reduction, people typically utilise several kinds of sand media (a sort of filter). Standard sand medium, however, fouls for organics every six months (when contaminants gather on the surface or in the pores of a filter membrane).

The organic pollutants in the water are reduced in the next two steps by BWW using various dosing systems, followed by multiple-micron filtration systems.

Following this step, the wastewater goes through the Boson high recovery, low fouling membrane system, which reduces the risk of dissolved salts.

AI is the future

The Boson IoT platform gathers multiple parameters at each level of filtration. It uses AI algorithms to identify a variety of irregularities, such as fluctuations in filter life and failures of pumps. They can better manage their inventories and labour force thanks to these datasets.

Further, each water treatment system requires various components to operate. A few essential parts, such as membranes, are imported. However, some ores can be found locally in different Indian towns.

The tricky part is putting it all together, getting them to complement one another and chemically satisfy the properties of water.

The startup has recently secured $419,000 (Rs 3.45 crore) in funding from the Indian Angel Network.