Water scarcity has become a pressing concern in India’s rapidly expanding urban landscape. With cities like Bengaluru facing severe water stress, innovative solutions are crucial to ensure long-term sustainability. In an insightful conversation with TheCSRUniverse, Mr. Vikas Brahmavar, CEO and Co-Founder of Boson Whitewater, shares how his pioneering company is revolutionizing wastewater recycling to address this challenge.
Boson Whitewater specializes in converting STP-treated water into high-quality potable water, creating a sustainable circular water economy. In this interview, Mr. Brahmavar discusses key challenges in urban water management, the role of CSR and ESG initiatives in scaling water sustainability, and the advanced technology driving their unique 11-step filtration process. He also highlights impactful success stories, including partnerships with major residential complexes, industries, and malls that have significantly reduced water wastage.
Read on to discover how Boson Whitewater is empowering communities, industries, and policymakers to rethink water reuse and build a more sustainable future:
Q. Bengaluru, like many Indian cities, faces severe water scarcity. What are the biggest challenges in urban water management, and how does wastewater recycling fit into the solution?
A. India is a resource rich nation, however we face water scarcity as a recurring issue in all big cities, and year after year, every summer most of these cities struggle to manage their water infrastructure. From paying exorbitant prices for water tankers to desperately praying for rains, water scarcity has a huge impact on the quality of life of residents.
One of the biggest challenges with urban water management is our approach towards managing water. In India, we rely heavily on monsoons to ensure consistent water supply. Instead, we should focus on how much wastewater is going out of our cities and adopt extensive recycling methodologies. This allows us to move away from being heavily dependent on monsoons and plan our water needs as per the water going out of our cities. Singapore is a great example of this model where they focus on recycling their wastewater to meet the water needs. India should adopt a similar approach and focus on making the best use of our wastewater.
Q. Despite regulations like the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) policy, many apartments and industries still struggle with wastewater management. What are the key obstacles in implementation?
A. Many apartments and industries in Bengaluru struggle with implementing the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) policy due to a lack of avenues to utilize excess treated wastewater. Bengaluru generates around 1,400 million liters of wastewater daily, yet most of it ends up in drains and lakes. Our internal study shows that apartment complexes use only 20% of their STP-treated water for flushing and gardening, while the remaining 80% is discharged due to limited reuse options.
For industries, even though they treat wastewater in-house, their processes often require high-quality water that current recycling methods fail to provide. As a result, they rely on water tankers for cooling and air conditioning needs, increasing costs and inefficiencies.
Boson Whitewater offers a sustainable solution by enabling apartments to convert excess STP-treated water into high-quality potable water, which is then supplied to nearby industries through our tanker network—creating a win-win for both sectors.
Q. How do you envision the role of corporate CSR and ESG initiatives in scaling water sustainability solutions like yours?
A. Enabling wastewater reuse infrastructure in a decentralized setup requires addressing multiple on-the-ground challenges, including technology implementation, managing Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), overseeing tanker distribution, and meeting the needs of whitewater buyers.
CSR initiatives can support WhiteWater Recovery projects that ensure guaranteed impact, long-term sustainability, and significant value for CSR activities. One corporate entity is currently supporting a CSR initiative to set up a Boson Whitewater system in a government STP, enabling the production of high-quality water and facilitating its sale near the government STP. This initiative serves as a model for all government STPs and lays the groundwork for a future piped whitewater supply. Another CSR initiative involved recovering high-quality water from a filtered borewell near a lake, providing treated water to the general public. These CSR projects create long-lasting, measurable impact.
Additionally, ESG initiatives by some corporate MNCs focus on reducing in-house Reverse Osmosis (RO) rejects by sourcing Boson Whitewater instead of running their RO systems. This approach adds significant value as the water comes from a non-exploited source. Under SEBI’s BRSR reporting (Principle 6), using an external, non-exploited source like Boson Whitewater can be declared, helping companies achieve lower dependence on groundwater or other exploited tanker water sources.
Q. Boson Whitewater’s 11-step filtration process is a key differentiator. Could you elaborate on the technology and its effectiveness in making STP-treated water potable? How does IoT integration enhance the efficiency and reliability of your system?
A. Our system converts water from STP (Sewage Treatment Plants) into high quality potable water. This water can be used for purposes such as centralised air conditioning in commercial buildings, household purposes, etc. Our systems are equipped with IoT that allows for real-time monitoring of water quality and quantity, as well as remote access for minimal manual intervention.
The STP treated water is treated in the following:
- First step - A 4 stage process of pre-treatment which removes smell, colour, suspended solids, turbidity (the opaqueness).
- Second step: A specialised membrane-based treatment (2 stages) which recovers every drop of water with a reverse reuse monitoring mechanism.
- Third Step: There is post treatment (3 stages) which is designed specific to the customer’s water quality requirement. For example, malls may have a requirement of water for cooling tower reuse, or industries may use it for laundry or any specific water quality requirement.
The Boson Whitewater system also has a UV and Ozone Dosing system in its post-treatment stages.
Q. Can you share some key impact metrics—such as the volume of water reclaimed, industries benefiting, and environmental benefits achieved so far?
A. In the last 4 years, we have saved about 988 million litres of water which otherwise would have gone to the drain. Our daily count is touching 10,30,000 litres. We have the largest malls in Bangalore using our system for self use of treated water for cooling towers. Our installation capacity will be increased to 1.5 million litres per day before March 2025.
In terms of industries, they typically rely on water tankers, borewells, or fresh water sources, which are then treated with softeners and reverse osmosis (RO) systems to reduce TDS and hardness for use in critical applications like boilers. Water quality is usually maintained below 50 ppm TDS, with some applications requiring as low as 5 ppm hardness. Currently, industries use RO systems to reduce TDS from over 1000 ppm to below 100 ppm, but this results in 50% water wastage, doubling their water procurement needs. By using Whitewater, industries can halve their water procurement, reducing operational costs and improving the sustainability of their processes.
In terms of the environmental benefits, the biggest advantage of our system is that it promotes a circular water economy. Wastewater has huge potential, and by recycling it, it will create a significant impact on the water infrastructure in our cities.
Q. Can you share a few success stories where your solution has significantly transformed water management for an industry, IT park, or residential complex? What kind of feedback have you received from residents, industry leaders, and policymakers about your system?
A. At Pramuk Aqua Heights in Electronic City, a 300+ unit apartment complex with 1,500 residents, 40,000 liters of STP-treated water was previously wasted daily. With Boson Whitewater, this water is now converted into high-quality reusable water and supplied to a nearby laundry just 2.5 km away, reducing both waste and reliance on fresh water. Similarly, at SJR Verity Apartments on Hosa Road, a 200+ unit complex housing 1,000 residents, 60,000 liters of previously unused treated water is now repurposed for a cooling tower 3.5 km away, demonstrating the potential for sustainable urban water management.
Industries have also benefited significantly. At Orion mall, 80-120 KL of water previously purchased via tankers or drained as excess is now purified for use in cooling towers. Embassy Crest at Whitefield has saved 60-70 KL per day by replacing borewell and tanker water with Boson Whitewater. Similarly, Vishuddh Recycle in Bidadi and Jeeves India in Electronic City now reuse 160 KL and 30 KL daily, respectively, for industrial processing, drastically reducing water procurement costs and wastage.
Mr. Hemanth- Plant Head, JEEVES Laundry- “We are using Boson Whitewater for our laundry units since 2022, we were seeing significant improvement in the wash quality, reduced maintenance of equipment, reduction in detergent usage, saving costs directs and also helps in operating our ETP easier with high predictability. Overall, we have reduced our fresh water utilization, direct costs and Boson Whitewater system helps us in achieving our sustainability goals directly attributing to our corporate goals.”
Q. You have been involved in the water reuse industry since 2008 and hold multiple patents. What inspired you to focus on wastewater recycling?
A. I used to live in London prior to moving back to India in 2008. Almost everyday during my working days in London, I would walk to the Tower Bridge for lunch. I was surprised to notice that there was absolutely no smell emanating from the River Thames. It was a stark contrast to some of our lakes in Bengaluru. I decided to move back to Bengaluru and work towards creating a sustainable wastewater infrastructure for our cities. During the initial years, I focused on non-chemical water treatment. In 2014, I decided to take it step further and create a larger impact by focusing on recovery of water.
We realized there are many people who are working on Sewage treatment plants (STP). However the intention of setting up STP was to meet government norms and not to save water. As mentioned earlier, we did a survey for about 200 apartments and found that only 20% of STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) treated water is actually reused for garden and flushing purposes. The remaining 80% is sent to the drain. The reason for this is that there is no avenue to use the excess water. This is a common problem in cities across India. For a country that faces severe water shortage year after year, wastewater holds great potential to address water scarcity in our cities.
We realized that massive volumes of water get completely wasted and this is one of the primary reasons behind pollution of our lakes, excessive borewell exploitation and water scarcity. Developed cities in other parts of the world plan their water management based on the wastewater going out of the city as it's more predictable. They don’t depend on rain to manage their water requirements. In Indian cities, we depend entirely on rainwater for our water requirements. We wanted to change this infrastructure and focus on recovering potable water from wastewater. This is the only way in which our cities can cater to the growing demand for water and become more sustainable.
We created a scalable business model supported by viable technology to create a massive impact in the water infrastructure in our cities. We are the first company to bring in viability in the Circular Economy for Decentralised Wastewater Treatment in India.
Q. What are the latest technological advancements in water recycling, and how are they improving efficiencies? Do you plan to introduce new technologies or enhancements to your existing filtration system? If so, what innovations can we expect?
A. The latest innovations in wastewater treatment focuses on enhancing the efficiency of existing technologies to improve both cost and water quality. Among these advancements are graphene-based materials, which, despite their high potential for filtering pollutants in sewage treatment plants, remain expensive and thus not widely adopted. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MCNT) are another promising material, offering improved durability and performance when used in water filtration systems. MCNT coatings on membranes significantly reduce degradation, resulting in less frequent and more cost-effective replacements. Forward Osmosis (FO) is being promoted by several major companies as an energy-efficient alternative to traditional reverse osmosis (RO). FO utilizes natural osmotic pressure to draw water through a semipermeable membrane, but its high initial costs currently restrict widespread use. These advancements collectively aim to revolutionize water treatment by making it more efficient and cost-effective.
Q. How do you make these systems economically viable for businesses and residential complexes? What funding models, subsidies, or financial incentives would help scale water recycling initiatives?
A. The current municipal water cost ranges from 2 to 20 paise per litre, while tanker water supply costs between 10 and 40 paise per litre. Boson Whitewater is currently sold at 8–10 paise per litre, with an additional transportation cost of 10–11 paise per litre.
Introducing credit-based incentives for those who use Whitewater instead of exploited water could significantly accelerate adoption. Regarding capital funding for tertiary treatment plants in apartments, the existing funding mechanism primarily relies on equity, while alternative funding models come with interest rates of 10–14%. If water recovery systems installed after STPs are recognized as an asset class and backed by philanthropic funds at interest rates below 6%, scalability could improve significantly.
Among all possible incentives, a top-down commitment from industry leadership to prioritize Whitewater usage would have the greatest impact in driving water reuse forward.
Q. How effective are current regulations in promoting wastewater recycling? What role do public policy and government incentives play in encouraging businesses and industries to adopt such systems?
A. Policies are already in place for apartments to become Zero Liquid Discharge, however enforcing the policy is a challenge. Policies for Industries to use Whitewater are currently not strong, there has to be a policy saying Industries who require high quality water cannot use exploited tanker water source and pass it via multiple stages of RO and generate reject water during the process. Awareness of such high quality whitewater being available in the market can be created efficiently by government initiatives and incentives. The government should welcome organizations who close the circular economy loop in wastewater reuse. The government should lead the way saying that having wastewater treatment is useful only if the treated water is efficiently reused in important applications(Process/ Cooling towers/ Laundry/ Electroplating etc) where there is higher value for the water.
Q. What is your long-term vision and goal for Boson Whitewater in driving large-scale water sustainability and making Indian cities more self-reliant in water management?
A. We ultimately want all our core 25 cities in India which would struggle for clean water over the next 15 years to have the Boson whitewater waste water reuse model set up in the respective city. As an organization we want to scale to 40 apartments in Bangalore in the next 18 months as a short term vision, and as an entity, a long term plan is to be present in cities which need to grow sustainably and we bring value to everyone involved in the cycle. Our cities will thrive, apartments will benefit, customers using our water will benefit, logistics and transport partners will profit, we succeed, our investors prosper, and together, we create a sustainable social enterprise.
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