From Scarcity to Stewardship: A Community-Driven, Digitally-Enabled Water Management Model for Rural India
Problem Statement
Rural communities in India continue to face critical challenges in accessing safe and equitable water, stemming from systemic issues in governance, infrastructure, and behavior. Traditional top-down water management approaches often exclude local voices, resulting in low community ownership, poor maintenance, and frequent system breakdowns. Water distribution remains inequitable, with marginalized groups frequently receiving lower-quality or insufficient supply, fueling social tensions and deepening inequality. Additionally, unreliable and unsafe water access persists, contributing to health risks and reduced quality of life.
Despite these challenges, long-term water conservation remains limited due to low community awareness and weak behavioral change incentives, leaving current efforts unsustainable and reactive.
Our solution is designed to address four interlinked challenges:
- Unreliable water supply due to pump failures, leakages, and poor maintenance.
- Unequal water access—often leaving marginalized communities underserved.
- Lack of community ownership and transparency in water infrastructure.
- Limited behavioral incentives for water conservation or timely maintenance.
Value Proposition
Our scalable, community-driven water management model helps government agencies and rural development authorities to deliver safe, reliable, and equitable water access in rural India by empowering local communities to take ownership, and real-time accountability in maintaining, and monitoring water resources. Unlike traditional top-down schemes that often suffer from poor maintenance, low adoption, and lack of community buy-in.
The Solution
We propose a smart village water system that gives every household a fair daily supply through digitally monitored taps, while sensors and community alerts keep pumps and pipelines working reliably. The core idea is to create real-time dashboards that with local reporting, and simple maintenance reminders, villagers and officials can work together to fix problems faster and ensure safe, equal water for all.
Vision
To transform rural India into a landscape of self-managed water villages, where every household receives its fair share of clean water and every citizen plays a role in protecting this shared resource — using digital tools, data-driven governance, and community-led maintenance.
Business Model
A multi-tier partnership model supports scale and sustainability:
- Local governments finance hardware and training via Jal Jeevan Mission or CSR grants
- Deployment partners (NGOs, MSMEs) install TapNet meters, dashboards, and gateways
- Water committees manage daily operations, track issues, and receive recognition for performance
- Government dashboards aggregate village-level data for compliance, audit, and planning
Target Group
- Government programs and subsides (e.g., Jal Jeevan Mission)
- Local water committees and panchayats
- Rural citizens, especially marginalized groups vulnerable to water inequity
Technology Architecture
In a nutshell…
- Smart Tap Flow Sensors → Local LoRa/Bluetooth Gateway → Cloud Dashboard
- Pump IoT Sensor (vibration or flow-based) → GSM Module → Pump Pal App
- App + IVR System → Ticket Generation + Escalation Engine
- Data Dashboard → Water Committee + Local Government Access
Let’s dive a bit deeper…
- Smart Household Tap Network: Each home is connected to a smart flow meter that enforces an equitable daily quota (e.g., 100L/person/day), adjusted for family size. Usage data is synced via mobile gateways or field agents using low-cost Android devices.
- IoT Pump Monitor (optional advanced component): Attach a simple vibration or flow sensor to critical pumps (like the village handpump or the electric borewell pump). This sensor detects usage patterns; if a handpump hasn’t been used (no vibration) for, say, 24 hours, it could indicate a breakdown. It then sends an alert to the Pump Pal system.
- Community Reporting App/IVR: A very simple interface (mobile app) for any villager to report an issue – e.g. “Handpump near school broken” or “Leak in pipe at tank” or “Water schedule not followed today.” This creates a ticket in the system.
- Maintenance Tracker A shared digital log that lists all water assets in the village and their status. Each asset (pump, tank, pipes) has a maintenance history – when last serviced, next service due, any pending issues. The village water committee and the local government technician both have access. The screen also shows:
- Current daily usage by household cluster
- Flow interruptions or anomalies
- Alerts and recommendations
- Alerts & Escalation: When an issue is reported either by sensor or manually, the system immediately notifies the responsible party. For example, an SMS goes to the trained local mechanic or the Jal Jeevan Mission engineer of that area, as well as to the water committee head. It will keep sending reminders until the issue is marked resolved. If not fixed within a threshold time, it escalates – e.g., notify higher officials or bring it up in the game.
- Preventive Maintenance Scheduler: The app also nudges the community to do regular check-ups. For instance, if the handpump’s seals are typically replaced every 6 months, it will remind the committee when the date is near. Similarly, “chlorinate the well this week” or “clean the tank this month” reminders can be set, so routine tasks aren’t forgotten.
- Training & capacity building: Implementing Pump Pal comes with training a few villagers in basic pump maintenance so they can respond faster. This builds local skills and jobs (a village youth could be trained as a handpump mechanic with a toolkit, and Pump Pal directs work to them whenever issues arise).
Prototype
Road map (in progress)
Phase 1: Community Readiness & Governance Setup
- Community mobilization in partnership with local NGOs.
- Assign roles: Tap steward, Pump monitor, Reporter.
- Conduct water equity mapping: understanding current access, grievances, and distribution patterns.
Phase 2: Infrastructure Installation & Onboarding
- Install smart flow meters and TapNet connections per household.
- Set up IoT sensors on key pumps (e.g., handpumps, borewells).
- Train local mechanics and committee members on basic troubleshooting and logging in Pump Pal.
Phase 3: System Integration & Mobile Engagement
- Launch the Pump Pal mobile app and SMS/IVR channels.
- Register households and assign smart IDs linked to usage.
- Activate the Community Dashboard: shows water usage, open tickets, and maintenance history.
- Link escalation chain: if a pump is unresponsive for 24 hours, alerts go to mechanic → committee → district engineer.
Phase 4: Behavior Change & Gamified Engagement
- Run a “Water Equity Challenge”: prizes for SHGs (Self-Help Groups) with most balanced water usage and fewest leak reports.
- Leaderboards and recognition displayed at kiosks and via app.
- Host meetings to review system data monthly with the community.
Phase 5: Monitoring, Feedback & Scaling
- Share learnings with state-level Jal Jeevan Mission officials for potential district-wide rollout.
- Use real-time dashboards to identify trends: leak hotspots, peak hours, etc.
- Generate predictive maintenance reports for technicians.
- Introduce micro-levy model to fund repairs, approved by the community.
SDG Alignment
This project directly supports the following Sustainable Development Goals:
-SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation: safe and equitable distribution at household level.
– SDG 5 – Gender Equality: empowering women in water governance.
– SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure: low-cost, modular IoT infrastructure.
– SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities: participatory local governance.
– SDG 13 – Climate Action: promotes responsible resource use and early warning for failures.
Why this model works
- Grounded in Behavior: Rural systems fail not due to lack of pipes, but lack of feedback, ownership, and timely repair. This model addresses that gap.
- Inclusive Design: Works with smartphones, feature phones, and even paper printouts.
- Scalable Architecture: Can start with just community reporting and scale up with IoT as budgets allow.
- Shared Accountability: Makes data visible to both government officials and citizens—driving faster action and trust.
- Cost Efficiency: (in progress).
Meet the team
Belina Campos
Mechatronics Engineer with seven years of experience in the automation industry, currently working as a Technical Project Manager for an EV Company.
Carlos Oseguera
Background in Music Production and creative businesses, currently focused on metadata for Streaming platforms and TV.
Andrea Gomez
Background in Finance and eight years of experience in the appliance industry, currently focused on new business development.