Solinas – Robots fixing leaky pipes and cleaning shit

Over 50 percent of the freshwater that is sourced, cleaned and pumped into municipal waterpipes either leaks out, is stolen or not paid for. This is Non-Revenue Water – NRW or Unaccounted For Water UFW.

Most of India dumps its shit into septic tanks, which need cleaning out every few years. The sewage pipes that serve the minority of urban India also get blocked frequently, so need cleaning out through man-holes. If not cleaned out, blocked sewage pipes lead to sewage overflowing and rainwater flooding. Most of the cleaning is done by manual scavengers climbing into the shit – literally – and cleaning out manually with buckets.

So basically, we have problems both at the input and output levels of our plumbing system. This is the problem statement that Solinas Integrity sets out to solve.

Watch the episode here.

Scale of problem is huge

Non-Revenue Water (NRW) — defined as the difference between the amount of water put into
the distribution system and the amount of water billed to consumers—averages 35% in Asia’s cities and can reach much higher levels, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank.

In India – an extremely water stressed country – the estimate for NRW is more than 50 percent, probably closer to 65 percent, according to Solinas.

Any lay person can see the outcome of the problem as –

• Many people are not getting water so quantity issue
• Water is being contaminated so quality issue
• Roads are constantly dug up so convenience issue

The founders explain that the causes of the NRW problem in India are also due to a combination of issues, such as –

• Lack of capital and hence, building and maintenance of water & sanitation infrastructure
• Tropical climate leading to quicker damage to distribution pipes
• Intermittent supply leading to water pressure causing damage
• Lack of records and coordination amongst government departments
• Poor workmanship by contractors, using poor quality materials and laying water and sewage pipes too close together
• Lack of awareness amongst citizens dumping inappropriate materials into sewage

However, it was the appeal by manual scavengers to the IIT Madras research team that led the founder, Divanshu Kumar, to this sector.

Solving with robots and data

Divanshu worked with the faculty and fellow students to come up with a robot to help the manual scavengers to unblock sewage pipes and clean septic tanks. The prototype, HomoSep, basically lowers a crane-type extension into the manhole, stabilises it inside the trapezoid hole with extendable arms and then uses a motor-run blade to mix up solids and liquids to ‘homogenise’ the sewage.

The company was incubated within IIT Madras with a focus on robotics for the water & sanitation sector. After a near-death experience, the management team was restructured into its current form. Moinak joined as a co-founder.

The new team then thought of another robot that could float on the sewage to detect leaks. After a few iterations, the EndoBot, was developed that looks more like an eel that can glide inside pipes with a tiny camera, similar to an endoscope.

The team realised that India needs an even more preventative approach, so it collated all the data from the sensors of its two robots, overlaying it with municipal records and other data. The result is an AI-driven dashboard that can not only map the infrastructure but also predict issues well in advance.

Demanding action from municipal corporations

The main customer segment for Solinas products & services is obviously the 250-odd municipal corporations. It already works with 25-odd off and on. While private developers of townships and office parks augment the revenue, civil society needs to put pressure on municipalities to use solutions like Solinas’ to help prevent water leakages.