How mobile phones help bring water to India's thirsty

Most urban Indians have mobile phones. Yet, most urban Indians do not have enough water. An innovative startup, NextDrop, is turning this imbalance into an advantage. This social enterprise is using text messages as a launchpad for what it calls a "water smart grid lite" data system, which helps bring water more efficiently to consumers. NextDrop began operations in 2010, in Hubli-Dharwad, twin cities in the southern state of Karnataka. The nearly 1 million people of Hubli get water only every three to five days, for about four hours a day, a situation not unusual in water-starved India. Water is released by valvemen at odd times throughout the day, which means consumers often have to wait by their taps for hours. Most can't afford large tanks or wells to store water. Next Drop's solution was deceptively simple, so simple that it's almost ludicrous that no one thought of it before. With the help of local government, it devised a mobile phone system which connects valvemen to engineers and customers. Valvemen measure the level of water in reservoirs every day, and then NextDrop calls them every hour to get information on the levels. NextDrop sends the information to the engineers, who decide which areas should get water at what times, and how much, depending on supply. They then text the valvemen, who in turn text the customers, letting them know exactly when water will be released. This apparently straightforward solution is far more complicated than it looks. Water in India is managed by a complicated maze of private contractors and government utilities, which NextDrop has had to navigate. Training the valvemen continues to be a challenge, given many are poorly paid and undereducated. Then halfway through the pilot, bulk text messages were blocked by the government during a series of riots in Karnataka, bringing down the whole system. Most crucially, though, smart data has always been treated as unimportant by government. "The engineers had no information on how much water there was, which pipes were leaking, which area got more water, or which area was deprived," says NextDrop CEO Anu Sridharan. "The only way engineers could figure out supply problems was when customers called and yelled at them. They were operating in the dark," she adds. But Sridharan has unexpected praise for the way local government in Hubli has partnered with her to get valvemen and engineers on board. "I have had investors asking me. 'Why do you work with the government?' I have had problems getting funding, because people wonder why I am working with someone everyone loves to hate. Actually, the local utilities have been really keen to work with us. If you give government the tools they don't have, they can do a good job." A simple text can change lives. Sridharan estimates families, mostly women, spend at least 20-40 hours per month waiting for water in Hubli. Sometimes, people may take a whole day off work to collect water. "Now, I am free to go anywhere I like," said one woman joyfully at a recent customer meeting held by NextDrop. NextDrop now charges Rs 10 per month for their service, and over 25,000 Hubli households have signed up. "If you give people a good product, they will pay for it, even in smaller towns" says Sridharan. Now, NextDrop plans to expand to Bangalore, a city where crumbling infrastructure and a rapidly growing population make their task far more challenging. They have launched two pilot projects in Bangalore, which are still in their initial stages, but many residents already see some benefit. An anti-leakage squad is being set up by the government, which NextDrop hopes to help in tracking water wastage. "Most of India does not get 24/7 water, but that's not always because of lack of water, it's because of poor management," points out Sridharan, even as the country reported a good monsoon this year. "But how can water be managed and delivered to where it is needed, if you don't have information? The government is desperate for data. My job is to give them that."