Delhi, India has installed two dozen solar-powered “ATMs” that dispense treated water at a fraction of the cost of bottled supplies.
The vending machines were developed by Sarvajal, an Indian firm whose founder, Anand Shah, envisions “a water vending machine in every village and on every city corner, as a simple solution to a lack of drinking water in the developing world,” SciDev.Net reports.
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The 24 units in Delhi are a pilot project, and they include five machines in Dwarka Sector 3 Resettlement Colony, an unplanned neighbourhood without any public services.
“In rural parts of India, where Internet connectivity is intermittent, Sarvajal generally sells the filtering system to entrepreneurs who then sell the water through 20-litre ATMs,” Makri writes. “In Delhi, Sarvajal manages both the filtering process and the supply to ATMs that each hold 500 litres of water.”
