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    • Problem
      • id10
      • description<h3>Aakash Ganga &ndash; &ldquo;River from the Sky&rdquo;: A Water Catchment and Distribution System for Rural India</h3> <p><em>Sustainable Innovations (SI) is a non-profit working to bring social innovations to western India in the areas of water access and door-to-door health services. SI has invited MIT students to think with them to harvest rainwater at extremely low cost.&nbsp; Sustainable Innovations has won the Lemelson-MIT award for sustainability, Energy Globe World Award for water, and World Bank grants for social innovations.</em><br /><br /></p> <h3>Problem</h3> <p>In absence of groundwater and surface water, rural villages in western India are counting on rainwater for their daily supply of drinking water.&nbsp; The challenge is: Conceive and prototype an extremely low-cost rainwater catchment and storage mechanism for rainwater. <br /><br /></p> <h3>Context</h3> <p>NASA reported that western states of India, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab, pumped 26 cubic miles of groundwater during 2002 - 2008. The pumping rate outpaced the natural recharge rate. In other words, that water is lost forever.&nbsp; At this rate of groundwater exploitation, the region may not have enough drinking water in the next two decades.&nbsp; Ominously, several cities and towns get water for an hour every other day.</p> <p>Sustainable Innovations is working to address this challenge by harvesting rooftop rainwater in rural villages of western India. The current approach provides 10 &ndash; 12 liters of drinking water per person per day.&nbsp; The average population of a village is 2500 &ndash; 3000. The roof surface is not large enough to capture sufficient rainwater to last for 10 months. The captured rainwater is stored in underground reservoirs made of bricks, stone, iron, and cement.&nbsp; The materials account for 70% - 80% of the system cost.&nbsp; Sustainable Innovations is deploying innovations in technology, social sciences, and enterprise processes to perfect its signature rainwater harvesting system, called Aakash Ganga or River from Sky.<br /><br /></p> <h3>Solution Parameters</h3> <p>The terrain around these villages is arid or sandy, and daytime temperatures regularly approach 115 degrees. Rainfall is low ― 10&ndash;20 inches during the monsoon season, which lasts 45-60 days. &ndash; and there is no surface runoff. Typically, the rest of the year remains dry.<br />The challenges for wide spread adoption of Aakash Ganga, rainwater harvesting, are:</p> <ul> <li>Catchment &ldquo;rooftop&rdquo; surface. Solutions should for affordable at a few cents per square foot, covering as much as 100,000 square feet, modularly. The surface should be removable ie folded and put away with the ease of an umbrella, or functional for other purposes throughout the year.</li> <li>Scalability is important. The solution should be low-cost and easy to adapt or tailor the solution to suit the requirements of villages, towns, and urban areas, taking into account variable terrains and rainfall levels.</li> <li>Social enterprise model. Attract social venture funds to invest in the program, help government formulate public policy for rural drinking water, extend to urban areas. </li> </ul> <h3>How can MIT help?</h3> <p>Students across the university are invited to consider innovations in the following areas:</p> <ul> <li>Prototype Design: Design and build a prototype of the catchment surface or &ldquo;rooftop&rdquo; that meets the requirements stated above. &nbsp;</li> <li>Social enterprise &ndash; define a business model that balances local leadership and ownership with community empowerment, participation, and equity.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Resources</h3> <ul> <li>For background on the water situation in India, see the Grail Research report, &ldquo;Water &ndash; The India Story&rdquo;<br />http://www.grailresearch.com/pdf/ContenPodsPdf/Water-The_India_Story.pdf</li> <li>For more information about the Aakash Ganga initiative, please visit Sustainable Innovations:<br />http://www.sustainableinnovations.us/akashganga/</li> </ul> <p>For more information about this problem and ways to work with Sustainable Innovations, please contact:</p> <p>Mr. BP Agrawal<br />Sustainable Innovations<br />bpagrawal@cox.net<br /><br /></p>
      • created2010-09-07 10:18:21
      • modified2010-09-07 10:18:00
      • contestyear2010-09-07
      • user_id2038
      • titleA Water Catchment and Distribution System for Rural India
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  • 1
    • Problem
      • id14
      • description<h3>Problem</h3> <p>NM Sadguru Foundation has installed over 9,000 sanitation blocks in the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, in India. In surveying the communities where these blocks were installed they noticed that very few people were actually using the toilets. Sadguru is interested in developing community level incentives to increase toilet usage. They are interested in exploring technologies and business structures that would allow communities to turn their waste into energy or products.</p> <h3>Context</h3> <p>Sadguru works in over 550 villages in western India to provide access to water and to promote responsible water usage. The area is marked by drought and extreme seasonal weather which has made economic development difficult for these isolated tribal communities. The sanitation blocks installed by Sadguru were part of a federal government initiative. Most villagers in this area are not using the sanitation blocks because they do not perceive a direct value to doing so over simply defecating outdoors. This ad-hoc defecation leads to pollution of local water sources and to a slew of health problems through exposure to human feces.</p> <p>Recently, Sadguru has partnered with community leaders and the national government to provide village level water tanks in several villages. They are currently working to link this system to village sponsored toilets, with the hope that providing water on site will encourage villagers to use the toilets. However, Sadguru sees the development of an additional community incentive to use the toilets, as well as a mechanism to pay for their construction and maintenance, as essential to installing this system.</p> <p>Sadguru is looking for technology based business solutions that would allow the community to turn the waste collected in the sanitation block in energy or products. They are open to a variety of solutions, from bio-gas collectors, to compost or protein based feed-stock creation, to use of biological agents to convert waste to energy to other emerging technologies.</p> <h3>Solution parameters</h3> <p>Sadguru is looking for technologies and businesses that meet the following criteria:</p> <p>1) Local production: All components can be constructed using local skills and materials</p> <p>2) Community ownership: Business models that incentivize the entire community to contribute</p> <p>3) Low cost: Systems must pay for installation in less than six months</p> <h3>How Can MIT help</h3> <p>1) Research appropriate technologies for converting human waste into energy or products</p> <p>2) Prototype a select technology on-site and document its economic potential</p> <p>3) Develop a business model to support this technology&rsquo;s application</p> <h3>Resources</h3> <p>NM Sadguru Website: <a href="http://www.nmsadguru.org/">http://www.nmsadguru.org/</a></p>
      • created2010-11-04 13:46:56
      • modified2010-11-04 13:46:00
      • contestyear0000-00-00
      • user_id2174
      • titleIncentivize indoor sanitation through waste-based business
      • published2010-11-04
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  • 2
    • Problem
      • id76
      • description<p><strong>CHALLENGE</strong><br />Many secondary schools in Tanzania conduct chemistry laboratory experiments with hundreds of students.</p> <p>As a result of these exercises, these schools generate non-trivial quantities of chemical waste. These wastes can contain heavy metals from qualitative analysis experiments (lead, silver, and copper), organic chemicals (diethyl ether, chloroform), and may be corrosive and/or reactive. Current practice is to pour these wastes directly into the environment (school flower beds, for example), or into school latrine pits that are sometimes subsequently pumped onto school crops.</p> <p><strong>SOLUTION</strong><br />A successful project would identify the kinds and volumes of waste being produced and develop a set of very inexpensive and very simple protocols that teachers could follow to mitigate human and environmental risk from chemical waste. A successful project also creates a training and protocol to guide adoption and implementation. A regional waste collection and treatment company would also be an acceptable solution.</p> <p>The Tanzanian Ministry of Education has an extensive in-service teacher training program that could disseminate ideas to hundreds of teachers. Local teachers colleges and universities could also serve as means of dissemination.</p> <p><strong>INTERESTED:</strong><br />Contact Aron Walker who is teaching MIT D-Lab's Education Class at&nbsp; aronwalk (at) alum (dot) mit.edu.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>(image from flickr under the use of Creative Commons; <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/danisabella/3986335522/">thanks to user Danisabella</a>.)</p>
      • created2013-02-13 14:23:22
      • modified2013-02-13 14:23:00
      • contestyear0000-00-00
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      • titleRural School Science Lab Waste Treatment in Tanzania
      • published2013-02-14
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      • description<h3>Problem</h3> <p>NM Sadguru Foundation has installed over 9,000 sanitation blocks in the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, in India. In surveying the communities where these blocks were installed they noticed that very few people were actually using the toilets. Sadguru is interested in developing community level incentives to increase toilet usage. They are interested in exploring technologies and business structures that would allow communities to turn their waste into energy or products.</p> <h3>Context</h3> <p>Sadguru works in over 550 villages in western India to provide access to water and to promote responsible water usage. The area is marked by drought and extreme seasonal weather which has made economic development difficult for these isolated tribal communities. The sanitation blocks installed by Sadguru were part of a federal government initiative. Most villagers in this area are not using the sanitation blocks because they do not perceive a direct value to doing so over simply defecating outdoors. This ad-hoc defecation leads to pollution of local water sources and to a slew of health problems through exposure to human feces.</p> <p>Recently, Sadguru has partnered with community leaders and the national government to provide village level water tanks in several villages. They are currently working to link this system to village sponsored toilets, with the hope that providing water on site will encourage villagers to use the toilets. However, Sadguru sees the development of an additional community incentive to use the toilets, as well as a mechanism to pay for their construction and maintenance, as essential to installing this system.</p> <p>Sadguru is looking for technology based business solutions that would allow the community to turn the waste collected in the sanitation block in energy or products. They are open to a variety of solutions, from bio-gas collectors, to compost or protein based feed-stock creation, to use of biological agents to convert waste to energy to other emerging technologies.</p> <h3>Solution parameters</h3> <p>Sadguru is looking for technologies and businesses that meet the following criteria:</p> <p>1) Local production: All components can be constructed using local skills and materials</p> <p>2) Community ownership: Business models that incentivize the entire community to contribute</p> <p>3) Low cost: Systems must pay for installation in less than six months</p> <h3>How Can MIT help</h3> <p>1) Research appropriate technologies for converting human waste into energy or products</p> <p>2) Prototype a select technology on-site and document its economic potential</p> <p>3) Develop a business model to support this technology&rsquo;s application</p> <h3>Resources</h3> <p>NM Sadguru Website: <a href="http://www.nmsadguru.org/">http://www.nmsadguru.org/</a></p>
      • created2010-11-04 13:46:56
      • modified2010-11-04 13:46:00
      • contestyear0000-00-00
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      • titleIncentivize indoor sanitation through waste-based business
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  • 1
    • Problem
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      • description<p><strong>CHALLENGE</strong><br />Many secondary schools in Tanzania conduct chemistry laboratory experiments with hundreds of students.</p> <p>As a result of these exercises, these schools generate non-trivial quantities of chemical waste. These wastes can contain heavy metals from qualitative analysis experiments (lead, silver, and copper), organic chemicals (diethyl ether, chloroform), and may be corrosive and/or reactive. Current practice is to pour these wastes directly into the environment (school flower beds, for example), or into school latrine pits that are sometimes subsequently pumped onto school crops.</p> <p><strong>SOLUTION</strong><br />A successful project would identify the kinds and volumes of waste being produced and develop a set of very inexpensive and very simple protocols that teachers could follow to mitigate human and environmental risk from chemical waste. A successful project also creates a training and protocol to guide adoption and implementation. A regional waste collection and treatment company would also be an acceptable solution.</p> <p>The Tanzanian Ministry of Education has an extensive in-service teacher training program that could disseminate ideas to hundreds of teachers. Local teachers colleges and universities could also serve as means of dissemination.</p> <p><strong>INTERESTED:</strong><br />Contact Aron Walker who is teaching MIT D-Lab's Education Class at&nbsp; aronwalk (at) alum (dot) mit.edu.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>(image from flickr under the use of Creative Commons; <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/danisabella/3986335522/">thanks to user Danisabella</a>.)</p>
      • created2013-02-13 14:23:22
      • modified2013-02-13 14:23:00
      • contestyear0000-00-00
      • user_id19050
      • titleRural School Science Lab Waste Treatment in Tanzania
      • published2013-02-14
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  • 2
    • Problem
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      • description<h3>Aakash Ganga &ndash; &ldquo;River from the Sky&rdquo;: A Water Catchment and Distribution System for Rural India</h3> <p><em>Sustainable Innovations (SI) is a non-profit working to bring social innovations to western India in the areas of water access and door-to-door health services. SI has invited MIT students to think with them to harvest rainwater at extremely low cost.&nbsp; Sustainable Innovations has won the Lemelson-MIT award for sustainability, Energy Globe World Award for water, and World Bank grants for social innovations.</em><br /><br /></p> <h3>Problem</h3> <p>In absence of groundwater and surface water, rural villages in western India are counting on rainwater for their daily supply of drinking water.&nbsp; The challenge is: Conceive and prototype an extremely low-cost rainwater catchment and storage mechanism for rainwater. <br /><br /></p> <h3>Context</h3> <p>NASA reported that western states of India, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab, pumped 26 cubic miles of groundwater during 2002 - 2008. The pumping rate outpaced the natural recharge rate. In other words, that water is lost forever.&nbsp; At this rate of groundwater exploitation, the region may not have enough drinking water in the next two decades.&nbsp; Ominously, several cities and towns get water for an hour every other day.</p> <p>Sustainable Innovations is working to address this challenge by harvesting rooftop rainwater in rural villages of western India. The current approach provides 10 &ndash; 12 liters of drinking water per person per day.&nbsp; The average population of a village is 2500 &ndash; 3000. The roof surface is not large enough to capture sufficient rainwater to last for 10 months. The captured rainwater is stored in underground reservoirs made of bricks, stone, iron, and cement.&nbsp; The materials account for 70% - 80% of the system cost.&nbsp; Sustainable Innovations is deploying innovations in technology, social sciences, and enterprise processes to perfect its signature rainwater harvesting system, called Aakash Ganga or River from Sky.<br /><br /></p> <h3>Solution Parameters</h3> <p>The terrain around these villages is arid or sandy, and daytime temperatures regularly approach 115 degrees. Rainfall is low ― 10&ndash;20 inches during the monsoon season, which lasts 45-60 days. &ndash; and there is no surface runoff. Typically, the rest of the year remains dry.<br />The challenges for wide spread adoption of Aakash Ganga, rainwater harvesting, are:</p> <ul> <li>Catchment &ldquo;rooftop&rdquo; surface. Solutions should for affordable at a few cents per square foot, covering as much as 100,000 square feet, modularly. The surface should be removable ie folded and put away with the ease of an umbrella, or functional for other purposes throughout the year.</li> <li>Scalability is important. The solution should be low-cost and easy to adapt or tailor the solution to suit the requirements of villages, towns, and urban areas, taking into account variable terrains and rainfall levels.</li> <li>Social enterprise model. Attract social venture funds to invest in the program, help government formulate public policy for rural drinking water, extend to urban areas. </li> </ul> <h3>How can MIT help?</h3> <p>Students across the university are invited to consider innovations in the following areas:</p> <ul> <li>Prototype Design: Design and build a prototype of the catchment surface or &ldquo;rooftop&rdquo; that meets the requirements stated above. &nbsp;</li> <li>Social enterprise &ndash; define a business model that balances local leadership and ownership with community empowerment, participation, and equity.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Resources</h3> <ul> <li>For background on the water situation in India, see the Grail Research report, &ldquo;Water &ndash; The India Story&rdquo;<br />http://www.grailresearch.com/pdf/ContenPodsPdf/Water-The_India_Story.pdf</li> <li>For more information about the Aakash Ganga initiative, please visit Sustainable Innovations:<br />http://www.sustainableinnovations.us/akashganga/</li> </ul> <p>For more information about this problem and ways to work with Sustainable Innovations, please contact:</p> <p>Mr. BP Agrawal<br />Sustainable Innovations<br />bpagrawal@cox.net<br /><br /></p>
      • created2010-09-07 10:18:21
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      • titleA Water Catchment and Distribution System for Rural India
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