The H2OME Campaign is a social initiative that started as an MYP Personal Project of Anjali Bhutani at Pathways school Gurgaon, but gradually grew into something that has the ability to impact hundreds of lives, through broadening access to simple and low-cost water filtration systems.
According to a study conducted by The Wall Street Journal and WaterAid, India has the highest number of people in the world without access to safe water. The report also states that each year approximately 140,000 children die from diarrheal diseases, after consuming dirty water. These rather disturbing figures motivated Anjali to take this project to the next level.
Pathways School Gurgaon interviewed Ms. Anjali Bhutani :
1. Ms. Anjali, you joined Pathways School Gurgaon last year in MYP 4 and children of your age tend to spend their time in fun activities. How did you start thinking about such serious issues in the country and what motivated you to drive this initiative?
I live in Sainik Farms and there is a huge Slum area nearby in Sangam Vihar. Near to my house, there is a poor family having 5 children who are absolutely devoid of basic necessities like food, clothes, shoes and they don’t even have water to drink. They don’t have a proper shelter as well, they just live under a cloth sheet tied to two trees.I was rather appalled to look at them every day like this and I created videos on YouTube to spread awareness among the privileged ones, about such poor families. Then the time came when we all had to work on some ideas for our Personal Project in MYP 5 and I felt that out of all the basic needs that this family has, pure drinking water will have the highest priority and hence I developed this low-cost Water Purifier.
2. That’s a very noble thought Anjali. How did you create this water purifier? What all material have you used in this to make sure it remains affordable to this strata of society?
When I created the prototype, it was done keeping in mind just this one family and not for mass production. I used Silver Nitrate and Ceramic Filters in the purifier prototype. However Silver Nitrate can be toxic if not handled with care. Taking this into consideration, I started looking for other more secure options that could replace Silver Nitrate, while not compromising on the purity level of water. Hence I ended up using UF membrane filter along with Ceramic Filter in the mass production of these filters.
3. So which of the two models were more affordable, Silver nitrate one or the UF membrane one?
The UF membrane model has a slight additional cost to it but at the end of the day it is safe for them to use and even small kids can use it without hurting themselves in any which way.
4. So how can a poor family get this filter? Where is it available at? Do you distribute it?
I have collaborated with an NGO – ‘Parvaah’. This NGO was created by a set of High School Students and its mission is to strengthen the underprivileged and economically backward rural people. We recently had our first event in Delhi, wherein we did not raise any funds. I contributed from my own savings to distribute a particular number of Purifiers. I will be conducting a series of educational workshops explaining the way my filtration system works and how families can use them! In fact Mr. Somnath Bharti (MLA of Malviya Nagar) got so impressed with this product that he has himself placed an order for 400 Water Purifiers and we are having another event on distributing these filters along with basic education on the same to these 400 families on 19th February.
5. Have you taken into consideration a feedback mechanism for your product, wherein these people can connect with someone if they have any issues in using the Purifier or they need an exchange or new set altogether?
Yes, each purifier has a sticker on it, which carries our contact details. In case a family faces any problem in using the purifier, they can get in touch with us and we will be more than happy to retrain them or solve all their queries.
6. That’s great!! What are the upcoming events that you are organizing to popularize your product?
My next event is on 19th February with Mr. Somnath Bharti (MLA Malviya Nagar) in Malviya Nagar, Bakshi Park. My next event will follow soon on 23rd February where I will be giving 18 Water Purifiers to 18 Baliwars. One kind lady from an NGO is helping me with this event. Then again in April, I am planning to raise funds with Fashion Capsule, where people can sponsor as many filters as they like and these can be further distributed to needy families.
Apart from this, I am also creating a website for the same through will I shall further increase the visibility of the product and the intention so that more people can contribute to this noble cause. I have an Instagram Page by the name H2OME which carries details of all events that have happened so far and all the upcoming events. I have been promoting this page a lot these days.
7. So how much have you spent from your own savings so far on this project of yours?
So far I have spent around 15 thousand rupees. I have distributed 25 Purifiers to different families, each purifier costing 500 Rs. I intend to distribute some more in the coming time. I am grateful to my mother for being a great support throughout in this endeavor of mine.
8. It is indeed an extremely noble act and I am sure you will excel further in this. Anything else you wish to focus on while distributing and fundraising?
I believe that educating these people on pure water is of highest priority as well. They need to be enlightened on how they can prevent themselves and their family members from losing their lives to Water Bourne diseases and I would like to take this up as much as possible.
Donate for H2OME
Anjali has started crowdfunding for the H2OME filter and for every filter purchased a filter is given to a family in need.
Read More: http://impactgu.ru/DhMwL9
Donate Here: http://impactgu.ru/lVld0x
Paytm Karo (Android Users Only):http://impactgu.ru/paytm-help-h2ome-campaign
NEFT / IMPS / RTGS
(From Banks in India only)- Account number: 700701707089619
Account name: H2OME Campaign
IFSC code: YESB0CMSNOC
UPI handle: supporth2ome@yesbankltd
