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Niranjan Karagi, a young man from Belgaum, Karnataka has introduced the cheapest range of water purifiers called Nirnal. Its minimum cost is worth as little as Rs.30. These potable water purifiers can be fit into PET bottles, in turn reducing the wastage of plastic bottles.

Moreover, Nirnal can also remove bacteria up to 99.9%. All you need to do is fill your bottle with water, fix the filter on the bottle like a cap, and squeeze the bottle to get clean drinking water.

In conversation with LifeBeyondNumbers, Niranjan talked about what triggered him to design Nirnal, how it works, and the road ahead.

This small yet magnanimous wonder was created by Niranjan back in 2016 when he was in his third year of B.Tech. Mechanical Engineering. One day while he was playing in a schoolyard near his home, he noticed some small children using the playground and filling up their plastic water bottles from a potentially unsafe tap. Bearing witness to the scene, Niranjan reflected sadly on the scenario and felt that all children should have clean water irrespective of their living conditions.

“I saw that there was no filter in the school. Most kids drank water from the tap that was connected to an overhead tank. Upon further inspection, I came to know that the tank had not been cleaned for a year. A cleaning would only happen once a year, at most twice. I was stirred, to say the least,” says Niranjan.

Government schools in India have students from every stratum of society and since most of them provide free education, all other costs are cut down. This very reason led to the ideation of Nirnal. There is n number of water purifiers across the world but Niranjan wanted to create the most secure and cost-effective one. Soon he was able to develop a prototype that was widely accepted and gradually funded by social enterprises. That’s how he formed his company. His filters have now reached several schools across Maharashtra and Karnataka. These filters have also been introduced in the Indian Army and exported to foreign countries.

Niranjan has employed widowed women from his town in his startup adding more social relevance to his move.

“The expense of a water filter could never be borne by a government school, many of which are located in remote areas and run on shoestring resources. Our first prototype was distributed to almost 15000+ students in government schools across Maharashtra and Karnataka. Over the course of two years, we have sold and distributed 70,000+ filters, not only to school children, but to members of the Army, CRPF, and INS Vikramaditya. Our filters have also been exported to 8+ countries,” says a proud Niranjan.

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How Nirnal Works

It contains a sieve and bottom filter mesh that drains larger particulate matter from the water. The water then passes through a dual-layer innovative carbon form that contains activated nanocomposite carbon granules. This carbon filter is designed to remove specific substances under low pressure. When water passes through this porous filter, chlorine (taste and odor) is absorbed and broken down on the surface of the activated carbon.

The filter then uses water pressure to force the water through a small carbon block and non-woven. While the nonwoven removes sediment, (10-5 microns), the block structure removes smaller contaminants. Water in contact with the carbon block allows for the adsorption and trapping of contaminants.

Nirnal is a multi-featured water purifier with the intent to reduce energy usage and control pollution. The startup is also planning to reuse the old filters to reduce further wastage

“It does not consume electricity, does not waste a drop of water, utilizes existing PET bottles for reuse, and is cheap. We are also planning to introduce a system where customers can return the filter after usage so that we recycle them” says Niranjan.

nirnal water purifier

The startup has bagged several accolades including ELEVATE 100, Best Entrepreneur Award, Yuva Shilpi Award by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Jagriti sustainable enterprise Award from Vice president COCO-COLA (Asia)–2018, Winner of Start-up India (Karnataka Yatra)-2018, and much more.

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Yet this 25-year-old had to beat all odds to be where he is today. He wasn’t expected to take the road he is following at the moment. He wasn’t even equipped with the knowledge of water filtration before he initiated the work.

“My father is a businessman and my mom is a homemaker. Although my mom has always supported me in my endeavors, my dad on the contrary wanted me to get a job. I wasn’t even aware of water filters until I made my mind to learn about them. I used to collect old water filters and study them. Gradually I could devise Nirnal. Thankfully everything has worked out well so far and there has been no hindrance,” Niranjan shares.

Besides the basic cost-effective model, the startup has devised several enhanced purifiers that are again cheaper than the models available in the market. One can contact Nirnal startup on their official website or visit Snapdeal to place an order. They are also in the process of venturing into Amazon and Flipkart.

Speaking on future goals Karagi said, “We are already working on 6 different variants of the filter. But, the goal is to filter seawater into potable drinking water. We just want clean water to be available to all and reach each nook and corner of the country and world.”