Which one of us hasn’t been scolded by their mother for emptying the water bottle and then not filling it afterwards? Or forgetting to call the water guy for getting the can delivered in time? Yeah, kahani ghar ghar ki! Life would be much better if you could avoid all of that, right? Bring in MyWater.pk and it might be.

MyWater.pk is a Karachi-based startup that makes smart water purifier units that filter water in-machine, thus eliminating the need for buying and replacing bottles. The filtration process involves dual particle filter, reverse osmosis, dual carbon filter, mineral filter and ultraviolet treatment.

A typical purifier looks like a water dispenser except that there is no container on top and the unit has a mini filtration plant inside the lower portion of the body. Also, these are all smart devices which means not only you can turn them on and off remotely, but also check consumption or life of the filter on the app.

How it works? Go to the website, fill a form with your contact and water consumption details and submit an inquiry to get a customer representative in touch regarding what model best suits your needs. Or simply check their product catalogue and order whichever one you think best fulfils your needs. Their team will come and install the purifier using any water connection and just like that, you have your movable, home-based filtration plant in place.

Currently, they have three models in market including Neo -- a small unit that is placed under the sink with a faucet and Versa and Terra – which are both equipped with heating and cooling systems as well, in addition to higher capacity. The products are priced between Rs3,700 and Rs6,800 based on specifications and capacity, which is different for domestic and industrial consumers.

What’s wrong with the good, old water dispensers though? “The bottles come through a long supply chain in plastic bottles and not-so-great conditions while our product filters water then and there,” CEO Ammar Jangbarwala pelicans. “It’s like the difference between frozen and fresh burgers: which one would you prefer?” he asks.

“Even the big brands who maintain certain procedures and standards aren’t so safe because of their distribution systems. For example, international guidelines recommend the containers be used for no more than 35 times but here no one follows that. The storage and bottling conditions are no better, as bottles are often exposed directly to sunlight,” points out the CEO, adding that “on the other hand, smaller players don’t even bother with that. Almost anyone can install an Reverse Osmosis plant and start supplying water.”

But in a market where affordability drives consumption decisions more than any other factor, how do these purifiers compare with the water bottles in terms of their cost? A Nestle water can cost around Rs250, which would yield a monthly expenditure of Rs7,500 assuming one bottle a day. For that segment, MyWater comes out more than competitive. But against smaller players often catering to certain neighbourhoods only, the startup’s price points are towards the higher side.

There are larger units available as well for enterprises, which is in fact Jangbarwala’s main focus for now despite wanting to scale in the consumer market.

Beyond its flagship installable purifiers, the startup is also flirting with the concept of water ATMs in rural areas and hospitals where MyWater transports its shipment container-sized filtration plants and installs taps which then works like a vending machine, but for larger quantities.

The startup was founded by Ammar Jangbarwala, an engineer with professional experience in oil and nano-tech who also has an exit to his name. “I was visiting Pakistan in 2015 and observed the water crisis very closely. None of the processes were exactly safe so I decided to address this problem,” he recalls.

MyWater is trying to introduce water as a service with its subscription model where they charge customers a fixed sum for a given capacity, surpassing which costs Rs2 per additional litre. “It’s similar to the mobile data plans where you get a certain limit for X rupees and once you exceed that, there is a per unit charge,” Jangbarwala explains.

Within the water purification business, another local startup, PakVitae shot to fame with its water filters and raised a hefty investment from a private equity to scale its production to an industrial level. How does MyWater differ from them? “They make their own water filters while we are not a manufacturing company ourselves. Our materials, including filters, are mostly sourced from somewhere else while we take care of the end service,” clears up Jangbarwala, adding that “if in the future we find PakVitae filters suitable for us, we can even switch from our current suppliers to them.”

While Jangbarwala wants to properly establish the startup’s base in Pakistan first, he is already exploring markets beyond. “The water problems in other developing countries are very similar to ours so we would like to expand internationally, through some venture capital or joint ventures,” he says.

The writer is member of staff:

m.mutaherkhan@gmail.com

Twitter: @MutaherKhan

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2019