Building consumer confidence in water
THE QUESTION
Can sharing data about public water filtration systems build trust in the water supply and reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles?
LOCATION: India
SECTOR: Infrastructure and Energy
TECH: Internet of Things
TIMELINE: September 2024 - May 2025
PIONEER: James Godber
PARTNERS: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & Environment (ATREE)
The Challenge
Bengaluru depends on water from the river Cauvery, but long dry spells are making this harder to rely on. To keep water flowing, more groundwater is being used, and tanker trucks move water around the city—an expensive and unsustainable solution.
The city has several public water dispensaries run by the government, which could help reduce this pressure. But many people don’t trust the filters. They worry about cleanliness and safety, so they avoid using these dispensaries. Many people refuse to drink filtered water, even when eating in popular restaurants. Instead, they turn to single-use plastic water bottles. India already produces nearly 4,000 tonnes of PET plastic waste every day, and this number is growing by 27% each year.
Even people with reusable bottles face a challenge: there aren’t enough places to refill them, and many homes don’t have suitable water purification systems (such as UV or reverse osmosis). Without trust in public water, breaking the habit of bottled water seems impossible. But what if trust could be rebuilt?
The Idea
What if you could check when a water filter was last cleaned or how much water it had been used for? Making this information easy to access could help people trust public water again.
This pilot will test the idea by connecting public water dispensaries to a database. A simple app will show information like filter maintenance, service history and water usage. Each filter will have a unique ID so people can check its status on a GIS-enabled map or by scanning a QR code. To make the data reliable, it could even be secured using blockchain technology.
The pilot will start small, testing a few dispensaries to see how people respond. If it works, the benefits could be big:
Less plastic waste: Fewer single-use bottles polluting the environment.
Healthier communities: Safer drinking water and fewer illnesses.
Energy and resource savings: A more efficient water supply for the city.
Cost savings: Lower costs for both the city and residents.
With better information, Bengaluru can make its public water system more trusted, sustainable, and widely used—helping the city and the planet at the same time.
Our learnings and stories so far
This pilot hasn’t started to publish yet, but there are plenty of other blogs to read below. Check back soon!
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