“Sometimes it feels like nothing is worth doing unless there is a smartphone app for it,” said Jai Gaurav.

Jai narrowly lost out on an award for entrepreneurialism recently where all the winners were in the digital businesses.

“It feels like a virtual world where everything is apps apps apps these days,” he said.

But working with smallholder farmers in his home country India, alerted Jai to the devastating impact of climate change on water supply and convinced him that apps will never fix everything.

Jai is determined to combat contaminated water in India and he will be using manufacturing and distribution for his business rather than coding skills.

Jai, who is from Delhi and is on a Commonwealth Scholarship studying a Master of Science in Climate Change and Development at the University of Sussex, plans to use the knowledge he has gained from his studies and from the University’s Start-Up Sussex enterprise training programme, to ensure access to safe drinking water for the poor by developing low cost water filters.

He aims to ensure even India’s poorest people can get access to safe drinking water.

He has begun talks with manufacturers in India and is seeking funding to build samples which he plans to show to the charities that will distribute them.

His new company called Clean Good Water “which sounds better in Hindi” according to Jai, will oversee the project.

Before coming to Sussex last year, he worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and then for a non-governmental organisation helping to address challenges faced by smallholder farmers in India.

“Water is a big issue. If you go into the drier areas it sells at a premium even though the average wage is about $2 a day.

"The majority of people in rural areas do not have access to safe drinking water. They have to go to wells or public water facilities – which are often not working.

"The problem is even worse in the slums of urban areas where people have to wait for water tankers to deliver water,” said Jai.

“There are quite a few government initiatives to bring piped water or to fund the building of a well or a hand pump – but when the facilities break down it can take years to get it fixed,” said Jai.

Jai explained that the problem is exacerbated by climate change because the country is becoming more prone to floods or droughts. Water is also unsafe to drink.

Jai, whose first degree is in Environmental Science and Chemistry from Delhi University plans to provide low cost water filters that will cost 40 per cent less than existing filters which are on the market in India.

The filters will also last for around a year – compared to the average four week lifespan of many filters used in homes.

He proposes to work with charities and NGOs who will eventually provide water filters to low income households in developing countries.

Studying in Sussex has helped him crystallize his future plans.

“The MSc course has helped me to look at development issues through different lenses and find innovative ways of approaching a challenge.

"The Start-Up Sussex program and the help I received from Sussex Innovation (the University’s incubator for new businesses) has been most helpful in planning each and every detail of implementing the low cost water filter idea, and I will look for funding opportunities now I have a better understanding of the issues” he said.

Jai plans to return to his wife and family in India in July this year “depending on how quickly I can finish my dissertation.”

He intends to continue his work in climate change mitigation and adaption whilst trying to help improve access to safe drinking water for low income households by getting his filter business off the ground.

To find out more about the University of Sussex: drop into the University’s pop-up shop at 20 Gardner Street, Brighton, from April 29 to May 29.

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