Agua Wireless Systems Pvt Ltd

Agua designs IoT solutions that enable Smart Water Management in buildings, villages, industries and cities to help enhance water savings and remove process inefficiencies. Our solutions enable automated water distribution, fair-usage based billing, leakage detection in underground pipelines and tanks and water quality tracking. The end-to-end IoT technology, including hardware, communication protocols, cloud architecture, and web dashboards/mobile apps are designed in-house.

Since our inception in Aug, 2019, we have deployed 1000+ Smart Water Distribution and Billing systems in residential, commercial, industrial and municipal setups in Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR and Rajasthan.

Revenue FY20: USD 65,000
Revenue FY21: USD 74,000
Revenue Q1FY22: USD 53,000

These deployments formed a part of field testing and market testing our technologies. Now that we have successfully tested the technology and the product-market fit, we are ready to focus on mass marketing our product lines.

We have completed the product development and market testing for our product range. Currently we are in the process of market expansion in Bangalore, Delhi and Jaipur. The sales channels we are utilizing for these are
1) Smart Billing Systems for Apartments - Direct sales to real-estate developers, Advertising in newsletters, tie-up with apartment federations and online marketing through social media
2) Motor automation systems - Dealer Network, Sales through Lead generation channels like JustDial, IndiaMart; Online sales through website and e-marketplaces
3) Smart Water Distribution - Tie up with Government consultancies, and large System Integrators like Cisco, Larsen & Toubro; Integration with the Nation Jal Jeevan Mission and tie-up with NGOs like Gram Vikas working in the rural development space

Market size in 7 major Indian cities we intend to target are as follows -
1) Smart Billing System - INR 7.8 Bn
2) Water Level Controller - INR 3.36 Bn
3) Smart Distribution Systems - INR 8 Bn

The aging water infrastructure across Indian cities leads to multiple problems across the distribution network –
• 35-50% Non-Revenue Water losses across Indian cities - Water lost due to underground leakages/theft
• Uneven distribution of water – Pressure differentials due to head loss leads to lower volume of water supplied to entities further down in the distribution network
• Lack of real-time quality monitoring – Sewage water frequently mixes with fresh water sources
• Outdated technology – Manual meters have inefficient data collection mechanisms which lowers overall visibility in payment collection systems. AMR meters have no real-time data collection which prevents features like real-time leakage detection and demand-based water supply.

By targeting 7 Indian cities - Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Jaipur, we estimate our TAM according to the below calculation -
1) Avg water consumption per capita: 135 Litres per capita per day
2) Average cost of water: INR 0.05 Rs/L
3) Target population: 93 million
4) Savings with Agua: 35% of water supplied
5) Investment in Agua: 10% of savings bought in using Agua Total Water consumed (per year) = Total population x Avg. Consumption per person x 365 days = 4.58e12 Liters Total Addressable market = Total water consumed x Cost per Litre x Avg savings due to Agua x Cost of installing Agua systems = 4.58e12 L * 0.05 Rs/L x 35% x 10% of savings = INR 8 Billion

The Agua Smart Water Distribution and Billing System (Agua SWDBS), utilizes internet connected Smart devices (Automated Valve + Flow Sensors), installed at individual building inlets, to monitor and regulate water quantity and quality to each entity in the distribution pipeline.

Solution Capabilities –
• Wireless devices transmit data over the internet (using RF/GSM/LoraWAN/WiFi) to central Cloud servers in real-time, thereby enabling functionalities like leakage detection, demand-based supply and quota-based supply
• By calculating pressure differentials in pipeline, sensors pin-point exact source of underground leakage or theft to address 35-50% NRW in distribution networks. Pressure differentials are calculated using household-level Smart devices. Installations in underground pipelines is not required
• Automation of delivery infrastructure to ensure supply is based on actual demand. By supplying water based on requirement, pipeline pressure can be maintained as well
• Automated valves enable UID based quota allocation per household. Users can buy additional water from mobile app in a quota-based supply system
• Automated Valves also enable leak protection, or supply shut-off in case of bill default by individual consumers
• A notification system generates alerts in case of sensor failure, overdue bills or water level breach in tanks

Software –
• Wireless SCADA system to enable geo-tagging of assets on a Map View. This enables efficient Monitoring and Control of devices, along with transparency in payment collection
• User-facing Mobile app to help consumers monitor consumption in real-time and pay utility bills. Bill generation for layouts and households is based on actual consumption using data received from Smart Devices
• An AI-based cloud architecture provides advances predictive analytics like leakage detection and demand prediction

Hardware –
• The devices utilize Motorized/Solenoid valves and Ultrasonic/Helical-rotor based flow sensors. The sensors are corrosion resistant and have accuracy levels > 99%
• Ultrasonic tank level sensors to monitor exact water levels in storage tanks and household tanks
• Wireless Motor controllers to automate water pumps based on water availability in source (borewell/municipal supply/storage tank) and demand from individual households
• Quality sensors (pH, TDS, Residual Chlorine, Nitrate) integrated at node level to monitor water quality in real-time and generate alerts if quality differs from norms
• Each device has an optional OLED display integrated with it for monitoring at the field level
• All our device enclosures are tamper proof in nature. An epoxy coating on the microcontroller also ensure high durability against atmospheric conditions

Existing Competitors - Siemens Water, HoneyWell, SBEM, Kritsnam Technologies, WeGOT Utility Solutions, AquaBrim

Competitive Advantage -
1) Agua solutions are priced at a fraction of the price of solutions delivered by the above MNCs
2) Wireless communication allows Agua to significantly lower cost of Installation and Operations
3) Agua's solution set acts as a one-stop shop for multiple problems in the water value chain

The key USP of our solution include –
• Agua's solution set acts as a one-stop shop for all the problems typically faced by the consumers across the water value chain
• A rental model (fully OpEx) removes the high CapEX requirements for installing the system
• A licensed manufacturing model enables us to set-up production anywhere in the world and take up orders of any scale
• Our devices are highly plug-and-play in nature, ensuring low installation and maintenance costs for the customer
• Wireless nature of hardware for reducing operations and maintenance costs (Both power and communication is wireless). Due to this, our 5-year maintenance costs are 30% of the deployment costs compared to 200% for the competition
• Our wireless SCADA system provides features like monitoring, control and geotagging of devices
• AI based cloud server enables advanced features like real-time leakage detection and demand prediction
• Easy to use mobile app for enabling bill generation and bill collection. SMS service available for users in low network areas
• Over-the-air updates ensure that any firmware update or device calibration can be easily managed remotely

Agua works on a subscription model for customers across Target Markets:
• One-time installation fee charged for device installation
• Monthly rental fee for mobile application subscription and device AMC

Depending on the product type, the one time installation fee for an individual system (used by one household) can be between INR 4000 to INR 100,000. The subscription fee for the same ranges between INR 50 per month per device - INR 500 per month per device.

Moreover, we also plan to license out our technology to water-based businesses (pipe, motor, tank, meter manufacturers) to help them enhance their available solution set.

By executing our marketing model at scale, we expect to gain revenues as follows -
FY22: INR 10,000,000
FY23: INR 25,000,000
FY24: INR 56,500,000

Our cost structure comprises of -
1) COGS (Component purchase, Manufacturing, assembly): 40%
2) Technology Development (Salaries, RnD, Product Ops and Maintenance): 10%
3) Marketing (Sales staff, Sales commissions and Online Marketing): 15%
4) Operations (Field staff, Warranties, Postage, Travel, Accommodation): 20%
5) HR, admin, miscellaneous: 5%
6) Management compensation: 10%

Key channels utilized -
1) Distributor based sales to the residential market
2) Online sales targeting Facility Management companies and Industries
3) Direct sales for real-estate companies and water based businesses
4) Tie-up with Govt consultants and contractors for B2G sales

Marketing and Sales: 30%
Technology enhancement/Maintenance: 20%
Operations: 20%
Salaries: 30%

1) Sales cycle risk - Our current sales cycle is between 12-18 months for the Municipal and 3-6 months for the consumer segment. The biggest obstacle in our sales process is the high initial CapEx required to install our devices. To tackle this, we will tie-up with a leasing company to convert the CapEx to an OpEX, wherein the customer will be charged a monthly rent and zero up-front payment.
2) Competition - Low cost competitors with lesser features can capture our market share in the long run. To tackle this we will also release low cost variants of our products once our operations stabilize

Incubated at NASSCOM COE-IOT, Haryana, India

Some of the awards won by Agua include -
1) 1st place, “ Future proofing against the Global Water Crisis”, Asian Development Bank (2019)
2) Winner, Urban Works Innovation Challenge 2019-20, Columbia University
3) Winner, Data Innovation Bazaar, Western Digital (2020)
4) Top 10, ICT Grand Challenge for Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring, MeitY, Govt. Of India (2020-21)

Though we have created patentable technology, we have not applied for the patents thus far