Startup India Invites Startups to Develop Portable Device for Water Quality Testing

DPIIT, in partnership with the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, has launched an Innovation Challenge to develop ‘portable devices for testing drinking water quality’. The innovation challenge is available on the Startup India website. Further, the challenge stands open to Startups, MSMEs, Innovators and Corporate Entities. All the selected innovations will receive handheld support and deployment opportunities.

About the challenge

Drinking water supply in rural areas is from both from groundwater (80%) and surface water (20%) sources. However, due to the depleting groundwater level, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, the use of surface water is on the rise. For both groundwater and surface water rural drinking water supply systems, it is important to measure relevant area-specific contaminations to ensure access to potable water. The Uniform Drinking Water Quality Protocol, 2019 has specified some important parameters to be monitored for assuring portability of drinking water as per BIS IS 10500:2012 (Second Version) and subsequent amendments.

People receiving piped water supply in their homes do not have any means to test the potability of water coming from their tap. Thus, it leads to a situation wherein, quite often, people are reluctant to consume tap water directly. People in urban areas end up installing household water treatment unit incurring additional expenditure. To facilitate and empower people to test drinking water quality at their homes and assure potability of water, there is, thus, a need for ‘portable water quality testing devices’ that can test the quality of water for important parameters.

Problem Statement

Through Startup India, the Innovation Challenge demands an innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution that develop ‘portable devices for households to test the drinking water quality instantly, easily and accurately’. Thus, keeping in view the source of water, the challenge is open for three types of portable devices. Participants can propose to develop portable devices for one or two or all three types. They are:

1. A portable device to test all the parameters as mentioned in Annexure 1
2. A portable device only to detect the presence or absence of bacteriological contamination
3. A portable device to test one or more parameters. The package of parameters may also be selected by the innovator.

Timeline of the event

The last date to apply is January 18. You can know more and apply for the event on the Startup India official website.