Impact
Innovators
Challenges
Events
Partner
Log In
Submitted
Last Updated May 11, 2023
Climate Adaptation & Low-Carbon Housing Challenge
BILGE VESSEL + SCUPPER VALVE
Team Leader
Mannat Kaur
Solution Overview & Team Lead Details
Our Organization
BILGE VESSEL + SCUPPER VALVE: Smart Comrade in arms to collect, filter and reuse
greywater in households
What is the name of your solution?
BILGE VESSEL + SCUPPER VALVE
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
Bilge Vessel and Scupper Valve are two comrades in arms that collect, filter and reuse
greywater at the source and help households fight the water crisis without any major
modifications in the current home plumbing system.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
The whole world is facing an acute water crisis. According to statistical data, many regions in
India can face drought in the forthcoming years. Recently the western suburbs of Mumbai, a
metropolitan city of India, had no water supply. The situation is quite similar in many other
countries around the world like Qatar, African nations, USA, New York.
These instances serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need to reduce, recycle and reuse
potable water in whatever way possible.
Despite water covering three-fourths of the earth, only 3% is usable fresh water, and the cost of
treating it is cumbersome with problems like desalination, energy in moving water, leakage of
freshwater in the supply network, spillage of sewage, treatment of sewage and other running
costs. This in turn results in a large quantum of carbon emissions, as evidenced by the EPA's
report that the energy needed to move, treat, and use water in the US produces 290 million
metric tonnes of carbon-di oxide annually, equivalent to 5% of the nation's carbon emissions.
Similarly, the Central Electricity Authority of India reported that the energy required for water
supply and treatment in urban areas of India ranges from about 0.6 to 2.5 million metric tonnes
of CO2 per cubic meter of water. In rural areas, the carbon emissions produced when supplying
and treating water is much higher.
The energy requirement, combined with emissions from the resulting sewage, has a significant
carbon impact too. On average, every cubic meter of water consumed generates 23lb (or
10.6Kg) of carbon emissions. With such a rapidly dwindling resource, we must treat the water at
the source.
By reducing the associated carbon emissions in the water treatment and supply sector, it is
possible to help mitigate the impacts of climate change and move towards low carbon housing.
The solution aims to address two major challenges faced by communities worldwide - water
scarcity and the operational carbon emissions associated with freshwater supply, treatment and
wastewater treatment. The solution will contribute to low carbon housing by reducing the
operational carbon emissions associated with pumping wastewater, etc.
What is your solution?
We have developed an indigenous, sustainable, cost-effective, decentralized greywater
treatment unit which collects, filters, reuses greywater generated in at home at minimal cost
(keeping in view sanitation), thus saving precious water and reducing operational carbon
emissions associated with conveyance, treatment of potable and greywater.
This table indicates the greywater generated by a four family household/day.
Of the above uses, water from bathing, flushing, washing machines is generated as wastewater
and is directed towards municipal drains. The water requirement for flushing, irrigation, mopping
can be managed with non-potable water, the recycled wastewater.
The solution has two units: Scupper Valve(SV) and Bilge Vessel(BV). The SV will collect
greywater from the shower, washing machine. The collected water will be pumped by the SV
toward BV which in tune will filter the greywater and store the recycled water for non-potable
domestic uses.
The two comrades in arms will help households to save and fight the water crisis without any
major modifications in the current home plumbing system.
SV is a small, case-like device which fits into the floor trap of the bathroom. The sensors present
in this device sense and pump the soapy water to the BV. The BV has three buckets stacked
one over the other and the water from SV is directed towards the lowermost bucket which
further pumps the water to the top bucket. A small submersible pump is placed in the lowermost
bucket along with water level controller wires to ensure that the pump gets switched off when
the water drops down below a certain minimum level. This will protect the submersible pump
from burning out.
Initially, the topmost bucket had 2 inches of fine aggregate, 2 inches of activated charcoal, 2
inches of sand, peels of orange, 2 inches of coarse aggregate.
Fig-Initial Setup
Upon close collaboration with users, it was found that the numerous layers of filter media
weren't hygienic and its replacement was a huge problem.
To overcome this issue, we took inspiration from the Baffle filtration process that involves the
use of physical barriers to treat wastewater.
However, implementing this process in such a compact setting is difficult, but, with a little out of
the box thought, we managed to integrate it in the bucket resulting in better treatment efficiency.
The first six containers act as baffles slowing down the flow of water, allowing sediments, other
materials to settle and filter. The last two containers contain 2 inches of sand, activated
carbon/peels of orange.
Fig-Setup
Fig-Impurities(settled)
Fig- Installed setup
Sand will strain out the suspended matter, solids from the greywater and activated
charcoal/peels of orange will remove organics that affect the taste, odour, color of water.
The wastewater will pass through these layers, get filtered. The treated water gets stored in the
middle part of the BV which is connected to flushing cistern and can be reused for non-potable
uses.
With this mechanism, users only need to detach a particular container from the network and
replace the media instead of having to empty the entire stack.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
The proposed solution is easy to implement which can be adopted by residential households to
treat greywater at the source and reuse it for non potable end uses. Besides urban households,
this solution is useful in rural areas lacking advanced sewage treatment facilities and struggling
with water scarcity where water needs to be pumped over long distances. Additionally, it is
suitable for remote areas of underdeveloped countries where water crises are common.
The following calculation shows the impact this solution will have (calculations are done for
Delhi, a city in India)
● Impact at END USER: On an average one person uses 25 litres for flushing in one day.
A single family home of 4 people with an initial investment of ₹1,000 can save around
5000-6000 litres of precious potable water per month. Considering the water cost of
1,000 litres to be around ₹20 - ₹30, it will result in a saving of ₹100 per month i.e. ₹1,200
per year. A household can recover the money in a year through savings in their water bill
and at the same time save around 50,000 litres of potable water annually.
● Impact at CITY LEVEL: If adopted and implemented by the end user it will result in
saving potable water and infrastructure cost, operation, and maintenance of sewage
treatment plants.
● Potable Water Savings: As per 2011 census 29,06,987 households in Delhi have
proper bathing facilities within the premises. If 20% homes adopt this i.e.,
581,397.4 and considering 100-litre savings per day, then Delhi city can save
58,139,740 liters of fresh water per day. This will also result in saving in pumping
energy as the municipal corporation will have to pump less water because of
lower demand hence will result in lower carbon emission in water conveyance.
● Infrastructure, Operation and Maintenance Savings: The BV unit filters and
recycles greywater resulting in less sewage. Specifically, it could reduce sewage
production by up to 58,139,740 liters per day and would in turn lead to less load
on sewage treatment plants. Just to put the picture in perspective, the capacity of
Pappankalan sewage treatment plant is equivalent to water treated and reused
by BV, if 20% of homes in Delhi adopt it. The STP construction cost is around ₹1
per litre and operation cost is around ₹100,000 per day. This would result in one
time infrastructure cost savings of ₹56,000,000 and operation cost savings of
₹36,500,000 annually.
We also studied the environmental and economic impact of this solution at individual household
and municipal/city level. We found that a family can recycle and reuse 50% of their water
demand through this system resulting in less input or load on fresh water and at the same time
less output of sewage. This leads to savings and has an impact not only at household level but
in the whole water supply network/system i.e., desalination, energy in moving water, leakage of
fresh water in supply network, spillage of sewage, treatment of sewage and other running costs.
Reference - https://ccsinternship.files.wo…
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
I am highly passionate about water conservation and have been working in this field since a
tender age of 10. Back in grade 7, I developed a basic design and initial prototype of this idea,
but did not stop there. From being just an idea three years back, it is now an implementable
project. We have organised a series of surveys for the users to understand their perspective.
One of the surveys was to understand the barriers towards greywater recycling. With continuous
user feedback, we have optimized the design to make it compact, user-friendly.
Our experience, dedication to this project put us in a strong position to deliver this solution. We
are confident that our solution can make a significant contribution to preserving water resources
and reducing carbon emissions in housing operations.
1) Space constraints
2) Lack of implementation knowledge
3) Bad odors
4) Difficulty in collecting greywater, replacing filter media
6) Changes in the home plumbing system
The results helped us understand the roadblocks and we finally designed a solution that
addressed all the issues highlighted.
It's features are as follows -
● COMPACT: As one of the barriers highlighted was lack of space for installing a
wastewater system, we adopted the vertical stack design for the BV, inspired from the
classic stack composter called Khamba which fits into tight space. Due to its vertical
stack design, it takes less floorspace equivalent to a space taken by a water bucket. The
SV too fits into any drain like a plugin.
● ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY: It uses natural materials like activated carbon, sand, peels
of orange which last for a longer time period.
● LOW COST: The components used in the project are low-cost materials, easily available
in the local market. The whole setup costs about ₹1000 and a family of 4 can recover the
money in a year through savings in their water bill.
● MODULAR & SCALABLE: The BV design is expandable and more buckets can be
added to meet the demand. It can be easily scalable at society, city, state, and country
level as it requires no changes in the existing plumbing network of bathrooms/society.
● INTELLIGENT AND SMART: It has an Arduino Uno which switches the pump on/off
depending on the water level without human intervention. It logs water usage through an
in-line water meter. The user can also see the amount of water saved on a daily,
monthly, or annual basis.
Since the input is shower/washing machine/hand wash water, there is not much issue of bad
odor. We have simplified the replacement process by assembling the filter media into
containers, as previously explained.
BV is able to filter the washing machine water and a remarkable improvement is seen in
appearance, colour, odour of the filtered water.
The filtered water was tested for turbidity, pH levels to see if the same can be used for irrigation.
The test showed pH levels in the range of 6.00-6.45 which is suitable for irrigation and there
was a significant improvement in turbidity levels too.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
● Reduce emissions from multifamily housing during construction, operation, and
end-of-life while addressing barriers to local adoption.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
New Delhi, India
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
● India
What is your solution’s stage of development?
● Pilot: An organization testing a product, service, or business model with a small number
of users
How many people does your solution currently serve?
Currently, the solution caters to a small community consisting of approximately 20 to 40
households.
Why are you applying to Solve?
As I develop my product further, I recognize that there are some areas where I could benefit
from some support. Specifically, I am seeking technical and market assistance.
Technical Support: My product is focused on providing an easy-to-install and effective solution
for greywater treatment at the source. To further improve the product, I require guidance from
technology partners who have experience in greywater treatment. I am seeking collaboration
opportunities with experts who can provide technical expertise and share best practices to
enhance the effectiveness of my product.
Market Assistance: While I am confident in the effectiveness of my product, I recognize that
there may be market barriers that could hinder its success. Therefore, I would also welcome
support in identifying potential customers, conducting market research, and developing effective
marketing strategies to ensure that my product reaches its target audience.
I strongly believe that with the appropriate support, my greywater treatment unit can have a
significant and meaningful impact on households, communities, and climate change.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
● Business Model (e.g. product-market fit, strategy & development)
● Product / Service Distribution (e.g. delivery, logistics, expanding client base)
● Technology (e.g. software or hardware, web development/design)
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Mannat Kaur
More About Your Solution
Your Team
Your Business Model & Funding
Solution
Solution Team:
Mannat Kaur
Impact
Climate
Economic Prosperity
Health
Learning
Indigenous Communities
Youth Innovation
Innovative Financing
About Solve
Contact
Solve Team
Careers
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Get Involved
Events
Partner
Support
Become a Reviewer
Mentorship
Resources
Articles
Newsletters
In the Media
Launch a Custom Challenge
Design and launch a challenge based on your organization’s social impact goals or industry
needs, leveraging our signature methodology and research-backed platform. We’ll work with
you on all the details, including promotion, selection, vetting, and support.
SOLVE®, SOLVER®, and SOLVEATHON® are registered trademarks and service marks of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
All rights reserved in the United States and worldwide.
