PakVitae (AquaVitae) : A solution of Clean Water in Thar Desert

PROBLEM STATEMENT

An estimated 1.3 billion persons living in low-income countries do not have access to safe drinking water (WHO). Diarrhea caused an estimated 2.4 million deaths from 2015, almost exclusively in these low-income countries, where safe drinking water is not readily available (UNESCO). 

In Pakistan, 44% of the population has complete inaccessibility to pure drinking water throughout their lives. In 2015, 311 children died only in Thar due to the scarcity of clean water.  In KPK and FATA, 40% of deaths occur due to water-borne diseases. An estimated value is that 250,000 children died in Pakistan due to contaminated drinking water in 5 years. 1 million Diarrhea cases are reported every year in Pakistan. 

Pakistan is currently spending 1.3 billion dollars on waterborne disease elimination every year. Per WHO, 25-30% of Pakistanis admitted to hospitals are due to waterborne bacteria and 60% of total infant deaths are due to contaminated water. Recently, Ex-Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid and PCRWR told the public the 41 bottled water brands purification testing results show contamination. This includes all the big bottled water brands of Pakistan (national and international).

OUR SOLUTION

PakVitae provides life-time affordable filters that can purify water to 99.9999% without any power requirement. The company is currently working with NGOs, Government organizations, Army, educational and health institutes, and micro-entrepreneurs to bring clean affordable water to the people. The current target is Pakistani market via B2B sales for one year and then the company plans to launch the product in retail market. We are currently working on following solutions:

• Tap connected filters
• Water wheelies filters for households (Rural)
• Water wheelie filters for rural micro-entrepreneur
• Hand pump fitted filters
• Filter assembly for sweet water wells
• Filter in water bottles
• Filtration (bottled water) setup for micro-entrepreneurs (urban)

We are working with following organizations

• Innozen Design - for design of 5 systems (accessories)
• Ecofine - Outsourcing production (ISO Certified factory)
• Pakistan Outdoors - Branding/ Media Partners
• Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Center- Moulds for bodies
• Akhuwat - Micro-financing of 100L water wheelie for women
• Finca Microfinance Bank - Urban water filtration setup for micr-entreprenerus

The team composition is mentioned as below:

Board of Directors 

• Shayan Sohail (CEO) 
  Chemical engineer  with specialization in polymeric membranes and water expert
• Arslan Ahmed (COO) 
  Chemical engineer who is master reverse engineering. Specialized in garage design of complex processes. Expert procurement
• Usama Tanveer ( CTO)
  Chemical engineer with specialiation in product variation
• Muhammad Jazil (CFO) 
  Economist and financial analyst

Partner Organizations 

• LCE- LUMS 
• Pakistan Innovation Foundation 

Board of Advisors

• Faisal Sherjan - Director National Incubation Center
• Adnan us Sadiq - DM Punjab Board of Investment and Trade
• Dr. Athar Osama - Member Science and Technology (Planning Commission of Pakistan)
• Saleem Ranjha - DG IPO Pakistan
• Dr. Atta ur Rehman - Ex. Chairman HEC (in process)

The advisers hold no equity in the company.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

By adopting new membrane spinning methods, additives, and different compositions of bore solution, dope solution and by optimizing the spinning parameters to near excellent point, we have achieved a membrane spinning speed that is 7.78 times faster than conventional hollow fiber spinning speed. This innovation has made a great impact on reduction of cost by reducing the uptime of machinery, power requirement, labor cost, and material wastage. Also, by increasing the flux, we have achieved a 3 times higher flow rate with a much smaller membrane area which is also a dominant factor in reducing the manufacturing time and material required.

We have added hydrophobic dope polymers in order to induce water repulsion on the membrane surface. Due to this, the water never physically comes in contact with the membrane surface and hence the deposition of contaminant become minimal. During the back wash, membrane is easily cleaned using its own filtered water only. The inner skin of the membrane is hydrophillic which attracks the water in (outside-in configuration) and hence contributes in an increased flux. 

The technology in provisionally patented in Pakistan. Patent number: PK 389/2017. We are looking forward to file 7 more patents for different variations in 2018.
 

CERTIFICATIONS

The filter is so far tested by SGS International Labs (One of the best water testing labs in the world), Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Pakistan Council of Research on Water Resource(PCRWR), Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Lahore, National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Environmental Department Pakistan, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Lahore University of Management Sciences microbiology department, and Punjab Public Health Department.

source: http://www.gistnetwork.org/competitionentry/pakvitae-aquavitae-solutions