Irvine, Calif.-based Waterhealth International
is planning to install water purification and disinfection systems for
600 communities across India, funded by a $15 million project finance
round from International Finance Corp this week.
IFC, a division of the World Bank, has previously invested equity in
WaterHealth International to grow the business. But this new cash
infusion will allow WaterHealth to quadruple the number of
decentralized units up and running in Indian communities, said Tralance
Addy, CEO of WaterHealth International.
“India has 600,000 villages that would fall into this category where
we would want to improve the water conditions,” Addy told the Cleantech
Group today. “So 600 is a drop in the bucket.”
The global water market is estimated at $450 billion for
purification, desalination and conservation. Spending on infrastructure
in emerging markets is expected to reach approximately $180 billion
over the next 20 to 25 years, according to the IFC, which has
established a $100 million fund, called IFC Infraventures, to provide
risk capital for early stage development of infrastructure projects in
the poorest countries.
WaterHealth combines purification technology with sustainable business
models. The new project financing will allow communities to make a 30
percent to 40 percent deposit, while financing the remaining cost with
long term loans.
“We are enabling the community to own the asset because in many
cases they don't have this infrastructure, but we want to be clear that
this is something communities have to want,” he said. “What we're
trying to do is create a highly sustainable commercial business.”
The 600 systems are expected to be deployed in the next 18 months to serve 3 million people.
The WaterHealth Centers use a multi-stage filtration system in
conjunction with a proprietary ultraviolet light disinfection
technology, dubbed UVWaterworks, which was developed with Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory for places that don't have the
infrastructure or skilled workers to run the systems. The system
purifies and disinfects water contaminated with pathogens including
polio, roto viruses, and oocysts, such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
“About 70 percent of people in India live in rural communities, and
although many of those communities may have some water scheme that they
use for irrigation and minimal disinfection, most people do not really
have access to potable water of the quality you or I would drink,” Addy
said.
The decentralized systems are modular and scalable but typically
serve communities of 1,500 to 10,000 people. The average system
delivers a community of 3,000 residents with up to 20 liters of
drinking water per person per day.
The systems use about 40 to 60 watts to purify the water—equivalent
to a light bulb—with additional energy needed to pump water in or out
of the system.
“The energy consumed to produce the drinking water is 6,000 times less than it takes to boil the water,” Addy said.
To date, the 200 systems in India have been grid-connected but have
been designed to incorporate wind, solar or other renewable energy
sources if needed, Addy said. India's power grid can be intermittent
and insufficient. It is estimated to have a 15 percent to 17 percent
energy shortfall during peak demand.
WaterHealth has also deployed water filtration technologies in the
Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Mexico but is concentrating in India first
because the need is so acute, Addy said.
“If we look at the need and the available opportunities in India,
even in the next 25 years we won't get to everyone we need to get to,”
he said. “We’re trying to strengthen the business model in India while
we pursue some exploratory initiatives in other countries that will
unfold gradually in the next couple of years.”
WaterHealth has already started exploring the market in Ghana
because of the huge need for drinking water in African countries, he
said.
In late 2008, Hague, Netherlands-based foundation
Akvo developed a mobile-phone based system for finding, funding and tracking
small-scale water sanitation projects across the globe, starting with
Asia and Africa .
WaterHealth is also developing household and emergency systems.
In January, WaterHealth said it secured more than $10 million for the
first close of its Series D round, which is expected to eventually
total $20 million. The round was led by previous investors Dow Venture Capital and SAIL Venture Partners.
WaterHealth also previously raised financing from Acumen Fund,
International Finance Corp., Johnson & Johnson Development, Plebys
International, and Dr. Anji Reddy.
Source: Cleantech