New Delhi, India, has begun a pilot program to make clean drinking water accessible and affordable using water ATMS.
The ATMS, installed by the Piramal Foundation, provide reverse osmosis (RO) filtered water through a smart card system at 30 paise per liter.
Currently, the Delhi Jal Board has commissioned 50 water ATMs throughout New Delhi.
Throughout India, the Piramal Foundation has installed more than 400 of the solar-powered cloud-connected water ATMS.
The dispensers are called Sarvajal, which means “water for all” in Sanskrit, Citizen Matters reports.
Regarding sustainability, the machines are claimed to last more than 10 years and waste only 10 to 12% of water in the filtration process.
The wasted water then is sent to flush nearby toilets.
Moving forward, the Delhi Jal Board plans to install 120 more drinking water ATMS.
The foundation plans to launch “Water on Wheels,” using mobile systems to provide clean drinking water to areas in need.
In India, where 63 million of the country’s 833 million rural population does not have access to clean drinking water, water ATMs may be a solution to provide clean drinking water for populations in need.