LOw-cost innovative Technology for water quality monitoring and water resources management for Urban and rural water Systems in India

ended

LOTUS will: (a) Co-design and co-produce, with the cooperation of EU and Indian partners, an innovative water quality chemical sensor, as an advanced solution for water quality monitoring in India, using advanced technologies (carbon nano-tubes), capable of concurrently monitoring at real time multiple contaminants, expandable and suitable for multiple and diverse Use Cases in India, which will reduce the cost of sensors by a factor of at least 10; (b) Develop a suite of software tools (off- and online), organised and combined in a platform with cloud-based implementation, implementing sensor measurements (quality and quantity), the specific needs of diverse Use Cases (e.g. intermittent supply, tanker distribution) and advanced technologies in the ICT domain to improve water management; (c) Demonstrate and showcase the LOTUS solution in a wide variety of use cases, across the whole value chain of water (urban and rural areas, drinking and irrigation systems, river and groundwater monitoring, treated wastewater quality), taking into account the existing infrastructure, the capabilities of the sensor and the specific water challenges in India (socio-economic and technical); (d) Investigate, co-design and plan the business model and market uptake of the LOTUS solution, with industrial production and further development and production of the sensor in India, ensuring an advanced but affordable, low cost product and solution for monitoring water quality, after the end of the project; (e) promote social innovation, by introducing co-creation, co-design and co-development with multiple local stakeholders, as a paradigm of successful EU-India Cooperation in the water sector, with lasting social, technological and business impacts for water quality in India, leading to viable, affordable and (socially) acceptable products and solutions, capacity development, job creation, contribution to wider issues and initiatives and wide outreach activities.