There's a beautiful invention emerging in India, and it's not just another tech gadget of dubious utility. It's called Ulta Chaata, and it's a sort of inverted umbrella that collects rainwater and transforms it into drinking water, with a bonus: it also produces electricity thanks to solar panels. Columbus' egg, am I right?
To spread the idea, Priya e Samit Choksi, husband and wife with a passion for nature and the environment, founded the start-up Thinkphi. Their goal? Create products that favor an intelligent use of natural resources. And Ulta Chaata is the first product which they patented.
An umbrella for the water and the sun
A large inverted umbrella 4 meters high, 4 meters long, 4 meters wide. Stop. When it rains, the water is collected and conveyed to a filter system present in the ground. Activated carbon filtration makes the water drinkable and compliant with WHO standards. Only one Ulta Chaata can harvest about 100.000 liters of water a year!
And the icing on the cake? THE solar panels that cover the umbrella produce electricity which allows rainwater to be transformed into drinking water.
Incredible that it's not everywhere
Too simple and beautiful to be true? Not at all. The invention is not only real, but has already made its appearance. Thinkphi's incredible commitment (only held back by the pandemic) has produced the installation of as many as 200 Ulta Chaata from 2018 to today. Even the shelter of a train station!
Of course, compared to the Indian population it is like saying nothing. Yet this "umbrella" recovered nearly 50 million liters of water a year and generated 337.500 kWh of energy.
It is not clear how this startup will progress in the coming years, but one thing is certain: Ulta Chaata is a brilliant idea that in its small way could change the lives of many people.
