Introducing JSP Enviro
At Rainmatter one of the problems we spend a lot of time thinking about is water management and pollution. When we met JSP Enviro – a Chennai-based bio-electrochemical (BES) wastewater treatment company, we were amazed at the work they were doing to solve for some of the water pollution across the Erode belt in Tamil Nadu. The major value proposition of BES lies in providing 70% lower operational costs of wastewater treatment. The cost efficiency stems from lower energy usage, reduced usage of chemicals in the integrated treatment process, and negligible volumes of sludge being generated.
JSP Enviro is founded by Priyadharshini Mani, Fidal Kumar, and Suresh Paul Jones. Priya holds a PhD from the University of Westminster in bioengineering and wastewater treatment, with a decade of experience in the apparel industry while Fidal holds a PhD from IIT-Madras in nanotechnology and surface chemistry, with ten years of experience in new materials research. Along with the third co-founder, Suresh Paul Jones (MBA – London School of Commerce).
Our conversations with the JSP team helped us learn more about the critical need for cost-effective and decentralised wastewater treatment solutions. Especially for Indian industries struggling to reduce groundwater and freshwater consumption, particularly in water-stressed regions in the country.
According to an estimate in December 2021, in India, approximately 13,500 million litres/day of industrial wastewater is generated by manufacturing clusters, 60% of which is treated at the country’s 190+ common effluent treatment plants (CETPs). Further, around 6.2 billion litres of untreated industrial wastewater are generated every day across India. Yet high capital and operational costs in running Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) become an issue for micro, small and medium industries with limited affordability, leading to non-compliance of discharge guidelines around groundwater, and surface water. This problem statement is what JSP is solving for and we are excited to partner with them in this journey.
Here is a note from the founding team.
India is among the leading garment exporters worldwide, with growing textile industries in several states such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka etc. Textile effluent pollution accounts for 20% of the total water pollution and contributes to 3 billion tons of annual carbon emissions. This has multilevel impacts on socioeconomics, health, and the environment. Due to its complex nature, textile effluent treatment has always been an expensive operation, with high capital, operating and maintenance costs. The textile industry operates at a high water footprint (200 litres of water per Kg of textile), and a significant amount of financial resources are spent on treating large volumes of water. Due to strict government regulations, common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) are currently being established to treat wastewater for reuse. Large textile units manage these costs through the establishment of common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) with other similar size industries.
These CETPs are unaffordable for small and medium-scale textile and dyeing units. This results in the implementation of ineffective technology or resort to unregulated discharge into the water body. In Tamil Nadu, regions surrounding the rivers in Erode, Tirupur, and Coimbatore have the largest incidence of cancers and other diseases related to the toxic effect of dyes in the water. In addition, several agricultural areas in India have reported the crops being affected by the unregulated discharge of effluent into the water body. Even large textile units employing the energy-intensive Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system are constantly looking for cheaper alternatives. Because on average, 10% of the production cost is utilised for effluent treatment.
About JSP Enviro
JSP Enviro is a cleantech start-up specialising in Industrial effluent treatment systems. We target small and medium-scale industries looking for low-cost and energy-efficient water treatment systems. Our product, the Bio-electrochemical System (BES), is an energy-positive technology that utilizes enriched microorganisms to degrade the contaminants in the effluents and produce energy in the form of electricity. Our solution eliminates the need for external energy and chemicals required for water treatment. BES is a low-cost and sustainable alternative to the energy-intensive conventional treatment systems.
JSP Enviro was established in 2019. We come from a technical background with experience in developing deep-tech technologies and from a business background having experience in the environment sector.
Our co-founder, Priya, being from Erode, the hub of the textile industry in Tamil Nadu, had witnessed firsthand the economic struggles of the industries to adhere to the government norms in terms of clean water discharge. It has inspired us to create a solution affordable to all sized industries.
We aim to work towards a circular economy by reusing and recycling clean water across the globe. Our goal is to provide sustainable and carbon-neutral solutions for industries.
JSP Enviro is excited to partner with Rainmatter as we share a similar alignment towards cleantech solutions.
