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Dawn of the age of Aquarius

Seventeen-year-old Shubh Agarwal builds Aquarius to provide villages quicker access to clean water

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17-year-old Shubh Agarwal is a Class 11 student at The International School Bangalore (TISB)
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During a visit to two remote villages, Kasti and Pimpaldari, in Maharashtra, 17-year-old Shubh Agarwal was witness to a rather common sight. While volunteering with the Indian Red Cross in 2015, during his field visit he saw women walking for miles each morning with pots on their heads, just to draw clean water for their families. 

Shubh was moved to action and wanted to help villages get quicker access to clean water. “It is typical in most Indian villages to expect the women to fetch water for the house, no matter how far a well or water source may be. I really wanted to do something to help this situation and hence came up with Aquarius,” expresses Shubh, who is currently in Class 11 at The International School Bangalore (TISB). 

Just like any other teenager, Shubh loves spending his spare time in playing outdoor games like cricket and squash. “After coming home from the trip, I continued to think of how I could help. One day while sitting in a restaurant, I saw droplets of water condense inside a cola bottle. This intrigued me, and I thought of using humidity and water condensation as a potential theory for my project,” says Shubh. 

After doing enough research, in December 2015, Shubh began to experiment with his idea. “I first put a vessel made out of aluminum into the ground at a depth of one foot; however, the water collected was insufficient. The next time, I improved on the idea and placed a pipe of seven feet into the soil with a bowl attached. I added a fan to blow humid air into the pipe using a rechargeable battery and solar panels. To my surprise, after 24 hours, I managed to collect 4.2 liters of clean water, an amount sufficient for two individuals,” explains Shubh.

After a number of tests and trials, in December 2016, Aquarius was rebuilt costing Shubh a sum of Rs 25,000. A number of improvements were made to the instrument with regard to the fan speed, air volume, laminar flow and the design. 

The newly designed Aquarius measures 8.50 feet and was planted in his father’s factory compound in the Wada district for further testing. The water obtained from it was sent for testing to the Whaters water testing agency in Navi Mumbai, to see if it meets the government regulated standards.

While such a project may bear good fruit only in humid climate, the main challenge lies in getting the word out there. Sunita Agarwal, Shubh’s mother says, “If Aquarius is further worked upon, it can definitely be used to help rural villages. Mass production will also lower the manufacturing cost. The only challenge he has faced so far is getting Aquarius tried and tested on an individual basis in a crowded city like Mumbai, where he built this project though he studies in Bangalore.” It may have been tough so far, Shubh has plans for Aquarius. “It’s been a year now, and soon I hope to put this idea on crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter or Rockethub,” says Shubh. 

This enterprising innovator is also in the process of developing his own web page for Aquarius by the name Septoid. “The web page will include an overview of the product and how it works. It will also feature a donation dialogue box for people who want to help,” he shares.

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