A significant proportion of India’s population is facing a severe water crisis that hampers economic growth, the well-being of the nation, and the sustainability of the ecosystem. The future lies in building smart and resilient infrastructure that can adapt to climate changes. In a world of ever-growing water challenges, Xylem is deploying innovative digital technologies in the water sector utilizing sensors, automation, and Artificial intelligence to predict failures and optimize operations thereby driving better system performance. Xylem’s well-known global brands have served the water market for many decades, with products sold in more than 150 countries. Dr. Nitin Bhate - the present Senior Director Marketing & Treatment Business Leader who leads the water and wastewater treatment business for the India region and also in-charge of all marketing and Branding activities for Xylem India, further explains to us about the company’s various smart water solutions in the conversation below.

In conversation with Dr. Nitin Bhate, Sr. Director Marketing & Treatment Business Leader, Xylem India.

In an era of rapid urbanization that has mandated the need for smart city solutions, how is Xylem contributing to solving water issues for smart environments?
India is on the pathway of development, and half of the population is living in urban areas, so sustainable development has to include Indian cities. Taking the cognizance of growing needs and urbanization, the Government of India launched the Smart city mission intending to provide improved infrastructure for improving the quality of life of the citizen. Xylem is working and delivering numerous digital technologies to support the utilities across India that is helping key stakeholders to understand their infrastructure, enabling them to make smarter decisions. The advanced technologies that are used in the water

sector are termed as Smart water or Digital Water or the Internet of Water and form a vital component of Smart Cities.

Our solution portfolio for smart cities includes smart water solutions for addressing water challenges in entire value chain, smart energy grids that enable cities and utilities to deliver power more efficiently, smart gas solution for efficient and safe pipe gas distribution, real-time monitoring of water quality in the water value chain, real-time flood monitoring, and dewatering solutions equip the cities to combat natural calamities like flood among many others.

More than 80 percent of products sold in country are manufactured in India. Xylem have over 100 channel partners and more than 40 authorized service partners. Xylem has a First-of-its-kind water sector global innovation hub in India, located at Vadodara and Bangalore, to support projects worldwide technically. Xylem has an in-house team of experts, project managers, service and maintenance engineers that are trained on the know-how of product and services. They ensure smooth implementation, execution, and after-sales serviceability of projects. Our robust customer support process helps in addressing after-sales and customer complaints in a shorter period.

Provide us with an example of one of your successful implementations which have gained a reputation for Xylem in the field.
We at Xylem provide leading-edge technologies and innovations that help our clients reduce water losses and optimize water system assets by addressing water affordability issues and offering water reuse and conservation solutions. There are many such examples where Xylem Solutions have impacted lives and changed them for the better. On one such example, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) adopted our Smart Water Meters to gauge water consumption better, investing in more than 275,000 Sensus iPERL™ meters to monitor, measure, and manage activity across its network. It is the first-ever city-wide deployment of smart water meters in India to reduce non-revenue water by more than half.

Tell us about the sustainability plans that have been conceived for Xylem?
As a leading global water technology provider, our purpose is to create economic value, as well as , social value. We do this by working across three committed fronts serving our customers, building a sustainable company, and empowering communities through social impact initiatives. Some of the signature goals that we at, Xylem, are looking forward to accomplish by 2025 includes the Provision of clean water and sanitation solutions for at least 20 million living at the base of the global economic pyramid, ensure that 100% of Xylem employees have access to clean water and safe sanitation at work, at home and during natural disasters, use 100 percent renewable energy to process water recycling at Xylem's major facilities, and give 1 percent Xylem employees' time and 1 percent company profits to water-related causes and education.