Schoolgirl becomes a ‘water ambassador’!

After reading reports by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that 70 per cent of the water supplied in Delhi is unfit for drinking, 16-year-old Prakriti Singh decided to be a ‘water ambassador’ and solve the problem in her own way.

After visiting several areas in Delhi and getting water samples tested, Prakriti, a class XII student decided to work in the Madanpur Khadar area of Delhi and installed an Aqua Pristine RO 250LPH purification system she says purifies up to 1,500 litres of water on a daily basis.

“I found out that over 200 families are staying in Madanpur Khadar and are forced to drink contaminated water. They aren’t well off families who can buy Bisleris for drinking. I decided to send the water samples to a laboratory and then researched upon the solutions and technology that can be used to make the water potable,” Prakriti said.

While looking for experts’ suggestions was easy, the major problem came with the funding as the cost involved amounted to over Rs 1 lakh, she says.

"I decided to bake cakes and sell them to generate funds. I also approached companies for donations and managed Rs 1.5 lakh. But now, the problem arose as to where the plant would be installed,” said Prakriti.

The girl, then approached ‘Project Why’, an NGO working in the area and with their help the water purification plant was installed in a school run by the NGO in June 2013.

“So, the water is not just being used by the 200 families but also the students studying in the school have access to hygienic drinking water. But the message needs to be spread and people need to understand the importance of clean drinking water. Hence, I appointed ‘water ambassadors’ in the school who would spread the message and the technique in their proximity,” she said.

Enthusiastic after the successful installation of the first plant, she facilitated another installation at Manav Ashram in Punjabi Bagh last month. Next on her agenda, is installation of a similar plant in an old age home in Tughlakabad area.

“After my grandfather died of jaundice and certain reports about contamination of water in Delhi, I toured interiors of Bihar studying water scarcity and contamination issues. But it wasn’t feasible for me to work there, hence I decided to start with Delhi,” she told PTI