Pure Paani is partnering with Small Talk Advanced Solutions to help women in rural areas provide treated water as a revenue-generating activity. This approach is a supplement to Pure Paani’s base business proposal in that any woman who participates provides both transportation and filtration  services to her customers. She serves two roles, that of a traditional Pure Paani “microentrepreneur”, as well as that of a water delivery person. 

Collection

Paani ladies have access to a rainwater harvesting system that consists of either a collection panel array connected to a water bladder (pillow) or a roof-based, gutter/pipe arrangement that collects runoff into an adjacent, low-cost reservoir. A typical reservoir’s storage ranges from 300,000 to 500,000 liters. Possible structures for such systems include local schools, health centers and public offices.  

A network of these systems throughout a rural community allows for multiple Paani Ladies to address the needs of numerous consumers throughout the village. 

Controlled Storage

In any given system, a solar-powered pump pressurizes water through the following stages:

1. Withdrawal from the reservoir;
2. Sediment removal through a 130 micron filter;
3. Elevation increase, 4m above ground, to a low-cost, 1000 L storage container.

Transportation

The Paani Lady utilizes the standing pressure from the elevated storage tank to easily fill her own container for subsequent transportation and distribution. Her Paani wheel reduces fatigue as she covers large distances between her storage tank and her customers.

Distribution

The Paani Lady then transports water to each distribution point in her customer base. These points could include individual homes, compounds and localized communal storage containers. 

Filtration

As an additional service, the Paani Lady can treat the water she distributes to her customers.  She does this using a Pure Paani mobile water filtration device as she moves the water from her container to her customer’s. With this additional step, she makes the water safe to drink.

Business Models

The Paani Lady can serve her pivotal role in a variety of organizational arrangements. In this section, “operator” refers to whomever manages one or several reservoir/pump/tank sites. One or multiple Paani Ladies may make use of a single site. Such organizations include

• A state-ran franchisee;
• A regional-ran franchisee;
  • where a region could be either a district, county, etc;
• A sub regional franchisee;
  • where an operator oversees up to 10 separate sites;
• A single-site franchisee;
  • where an operator manages one reservoir, pump and elevated tank;
  • where 10-20 individual Paani Ladies source water from one site.

Operational Model

Regardless of business structure, the same sequence takes place at every site.

1. The water reservoir is filled during the rainy season.
2. The site operator moves water from the reservoir to the tank using the solar-powered pump.
3. The Paani Lady
   1. fills her container with water from the tank;
   2. pays a fee per volume taken to the site operator;
   3. transports the filled container to her customer(s);
   4. transfers water from her container to that of her customer(s)
      1. through non filtration methods if no treatment is requested or;
      2. through the Pure Paani mobile filter if treatment is requested
   5. collects all fees from the customer for services rendered.

Financial Model

The Paani Lady system depends on the participation and support of several stakeholders.

• Development Agencies, NGOs and/or Governments pay a small
  amount per month per site on a 10 year contract basis.
• Pure Paani
  • establishes the water reservoirs and source sites;
  • assigns and manages the regional franchises;
  • ensures the operation of equipment through franchises.
• Paani Ladies
  • pay the site franchisee/operator per volume withdrawn;
  • charge their clients a small fee for services, thereby generating their own revenue while keeping their community healthy.