Chandrasekaran Jayaraman: Revolutionizing Rural Water with No-Power Filters

Chandrasekaran Jayaraman is transforming rural India’s water crisis and sanitation challenges at age 57. As founder and director of Watsan Envirotech Pvt Ltd, also known as Watson Water and Sanitation, this former top plastic technologist from India’s premier SIPET institute became an accidental entrepreneur in 2009. He pioneered electricity free nano clay filters using CSIR Terafil technology that purify water without any waste, replacements, or energy needs. These filters tackle iron, arsenic, fluoride, and microbes in over 10 states, reaching more than 500,000 households, 1,000 schools, and villages plus BSF posts in Kargil and Wagah borders. Pairing them with modular Lego style toilets made from windmill waste fiberglass, Chandrasekaran prioritizes real science, NGO partnerships, and CSR funding over venture capital hype for lasting SDG 6 impact.

From Temple Tours to Water Purifier Innovation: The Accidental Spark

Imagine weekend heritage trips documenting Tamil Nadu’s dilapidated temples around 2007 and 2008. Chandrasekaran, raised in a poor family where education was the only ladder up, notices villages without safe drinking water or clean toilets. Girls drop out of school at puberty due to no sanitation facilities, striking him deeply: “What good is my 30 years in plastics manufacturing if it cannot solve basics like clean water and toilets for the poor?” Rejecting common RO purifiers that waste 60 to 70 percent water, run on electricity, and need frequent membrane changes, he sets a bold tagline: no energy, no water wastage, no replacement, and affordable for bottom of pyramid families.

At a CSIR meeting in SIPET Chennai, scientists from Bhubaneswar introduce Terafil nano clay candles made from clay and sawdust with natural nanopores. Industrialists pass due to low profit potential, but his mentor declares, “Chandra will do it.” Becoming one of nine licensees in 2009 out of now 164 with 163 failures, he spends two years mastering clay rheology and variability. Learning from village potters on clay selection and temple restoration on traditional materials, he scales production by 2010 to 2011. Even original 2009 filters work perfectly in 2025, proving lifelong durability for rural water purification needs.

Tackling Arsenic and Fluoride: Region Specific Water Filters Born from Academia Partnerships

Arsenic poisons water in 10 to 12 states like Assam, Northeast, West Bengal, and Punjab, causing cancer in low income BPL families unable to afford treatment. Spotting IIT Madras Professor Pratip’s nanomaterial research in a local paper, Chandrasekaran prototypes a PVC cartridge in days after a three hour lab discussion. Terafil first removes iron for accurate arsenic detection; this add on filter deploys to over 100,000 households, earning national awards and Padma Shri recognition for the professor.

Excess fluoride causes skeletal and dental fluorosis, yellowing teeth, deforming bones, and crippling villagers plus cattle. Partnering with Professor Ramamurthy from PSG College Coimbatore on his research paper, he secures a no cost license after the principal marvels: “First industry partner in 100 years.” Meeting self imposed deadlines of three to six months, these filters now address both contaminants region specifically. His mantra: “Solve real problems with pure intent without chasing money first; good people and revenue follow.”

Modular Toilets from Windmill Waste: Solving Cement Shortages and Open Defecation

Building village toilets fails due to soaring cement prices, water scarcity, illegal river sand mining, and M sand destroying hills. Discovering thousands of tonnes of non recyclable fiberglass waste from windmill makers like Suzlon and Gamesa, he engineers stackable GFRP panels stronger than bulletproof material over 3mm thick. Knockdown Lego style design includes separate walls, door, roof, and base for easy shipping and assembly in hills, floods, or remote areas, using minimal sand, water, and cement.

Phytoremediation handles waste naturally: underground heat and microbes turn feces to ash or fertilizer; gravel filters enrich water for organic farming and soil health. He slams sewage treatment plants as scientifically flawed for calling water grey or black villains instead of letting nature decompose onsite. Self funded prototypes win national awards; NGOs and CSR deploy to poorest communities, empowering local women in production for financial independence.

Lean Manufacturing Model: Rice Mills, Slum Workers, and Smart Sourcing

No capital intensive factories for this bootstrap innovator. He rents abandoned rice mills, paying farmers 15 to 20 thousand rupees yearly; starts in slum rehab rooms for 2 thousand rupees; uses flood emptied houses post 2015 to 2017 Chennai floods. BPL and tribal women become quality control experts, wearing uniforms, learning assembly pride: “This candle turns pond water to drinking water, saving lives.” Custom designed machines and molds ensure scalability; SIPET centers across India supply food grade plastic bodies free of microplastics using process sand waste approved by CSIR.

Started with 1.5 lakh rupees personal investment in 2009 as a proprietary firm, formalized as Pvt Ltd in 2013 with co founder PN Subramaniam teaching business basics. Total revenue hits 80 million rupees, reinvested in R&D for variants. Logistics masterstroke: Indian Railways 20,000 junctions and 2 lakh pincodes plus India Post ship nationwide affordably. Online shop serves urban sustainability fans.

CSR Deployments and Flood Relief: Real World Water Purifier Impact

CSR from ONGC, Tata Groups, Mahindra, DCB Bank, World Vision India, United Way, Hope Foundation, and Water.org fund deployments. Flood relief rushes 2000 units to Chennai, 15,000 to Kerala without upfront payment via crowdfunding; Punjab floods and BSF borders get priority. Madhya Pradesh tribal areas with 15,000 filters generate carbon credits. Over 350,000 rural households, 50,000 anganwadis, and schools benefit, reducing waterborne diseases.

Challenges persist: government tenders mandate RO brands despite Supreme Court and NGT bans overturned by MNC lobbies tweaking TDS limits from 200 to 500 to 500 to 2000. Jal Jeevan Mission taps often deliver contaminated air; he pushes standalone filters for hills where pipelines fail in avalanches.

Exposing the Water Cartel: RO Myths, Harpic Damage, and Rainwater Push

Chandrasekaran calls RO “rogue water” for stripping essential minerals, weakening children and elderly immunity unlike villagers building resilience from pond water. Harpic acids kill trillions of soil microbes; STPs create pharma, inoculum, and GM crop profit cycles. Seawater RO dumps brine, turning seas dead and littering membranes as hazardous waste with no data even for Chennai.

Rainwater harvesting gets ignored, wasting 96 percent to seas while tankers deprive villages for cities. He advocates: save nature, promote organic farming via enriched water, avoid cartels pushing diseases then treatments.

Awards, Global Reach, and Village Innovation Labs Vision

Royal Academy of Engineering Leadership in Innovation Fellow 2016, C.K. Prahlad Rural Innovation Award 2015, Power of Ideas by IIM Ahmedabad DST 2016, IIT Madras Carbon Zero jury, Africa Business Heroes, ICES 2024 spotlight. Advises Saudi Arabia waste to bricks, UK exports; two patents including modular toilets and trauma spill sinks. Sustainability Mafia network of 100 innovators cross promotes eco solutions.

Lives the preach: organic food from farmers, no bottled water or Harpic, 16 year old bike. Dreams Jio style village tinkering labs with problem windows for farmers. Partners welcome: NGOs, states, CSR, impact funds via WhatsApp for arsenic fluoride prototypes, ETPs, feeding bottles targeting SDG 6 water sanitation goals. Science serves humanity without expiry.