Freshwater is a scarce resource accounting for only 2.5% of the planet’s total water supply. Out of this limited freshwater, only 1.3% is available in forms such as lakes, rivers, and swamps, covering an area of around 104500 km square, while 30% (of 2.5%) is in groundwater. Water quality has become a critical issue for sustaining nature, forest, people, food production, and businesses. Globally, two billion people face water stress daily. In India, the situation is even worse, with about 70% of surface water sources being polluted, directly impacting health, aquaculture and agricultural production, pushing 100 million citizens to water quality risks.
Surprisingly, water quality is not just an issue in emerging and low-income countries but across developed countries as well. According to a World Bank report, the world is facing an invisible water quality crisis. Therefore, addressing water security from a water quality lens is crucial. We can’t protect and restore nature without protecting and restoring our freshwater resources. We must identify ecological, human-induced, and climate risks and threats freshwater bodies have been facing and design and innovate scalable solutions.
As a water entrepreneur, we aim to provide innovative solutions to water-related challenges. As part of this, we develop hard-tech and deep-tech solutions that combines nature intelligence of ecological science and artificial intelligence for identifying water health and forecasting risks. Through this, we are able to monitor water ecosystems on a real-time basis. We have learned that we need to go beyond conventional approaches using data analytics, IoT and geospatial analysis. And overlay our business as usual management approach with an ecological or ecosystem lens to create a win-win for not just people but ecosystem as whole. We must protect aquatic life, we have this responsibility.
Our approach helped to conserve 30 million liters of freshwater per year across fish ponds and 70 million cubic meters of water restoration, conservation, and protection towards better water quality, covering 5300 hectares of waterscapes. Enhancing water health monitoring capabilities for fish farmers, restoration experts, and water managers in India and abroad.
Understanding your audience is vital. By working closely with them to understand their problems and localize solutions, a greater impact can be created. It is also important to take into account language barriers, as there is no single fit for diverse geographies.
Addressing the challenges being faced by your audiences is also important. If the biggest issue is severe loss of production because of water quality issues, then the solution needs to take into account this constant change.
Changing climate is putting millions of people and hectares of water bodies at risk. De-risking their entire stock and enabling optimum output is crucial, especially in India, which is very low on protein consumption and would require more healthy protein in the future.
With the UN Water Conference 2023 bringing eyes globally to the issue of water. We are on the path to understanding and ensuring water health globally for all. The learning and knowledge-sharing opportunities have been immense. Creating a unique perspective, one that blends interdisciplinary thinking with a local-to-global approach. This event will help to redefine what water security, water access and water quality means, and encourage water entrepreneurs like us to find ways to use technology to address risks and take action. Enabling pathways to protect our most valuable resource, and to save lives.
By diagnosing health of freshwater bodies using virtual and real sensors with applied AI and ecological sciences models to identify different ecological and climate risks, we can act on them and identify the right strategy and solution for tackling the problem, thus, ensuring a pathway for healthy freshwater bodies. Enabling restoration not only protects aquatic life but enables the implementation of water and climate-resilient waterscapes. Bringing a quality perspective to understand what is the right measure to judge how good our water systems are.
In conclusion, India is facing significant challenges related to water health and climate change, which require innovative and interdisciplinary solutions. The use of technology, such as AI, can play a crucial role in addressing these challenges by providing real-time data on water quality, identifying potential risks, and enabling effective interventions. However, these solutions need to be implemented in a way that is inclusive, sustainable, and accessible to all communities.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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