By Sekhar Seshan. Consulting Editor, Business India

Green at heart’ and ‘passionate about water’ is how global water solutions major Grundfos describes itself. Putting its money where its mouth is, the Danish pump manufacturer applies its competency in moving, conserving, cleaning and bringing safe water to millions of people around the globe to develop energy-efficient solutions. These are used in buildings, water utility and industrial processes, and have applications for the commercial sector to create smart buildings, too.

With pumps accounting for 10 per cent of the world’s electrical energy consumption and up to 90 per cent of them being inefficient, Grundfos focuses on making energy-efficient solutions that help to save about 4 per cent of energy and two billion cubic meters of fresh water.

Its pumps are designed to meet all domestic and agricultural water requirements, and include a solar-powered system to supply water for both urban and rural societies. Going solar has led to a reduction in demand for fossil fuels, and in greenhouse gas emissions, leading to lowering the carbon footprint.

Water wastage due to leakages at distribution mains, service pipes and stand posts is very high across Indian metros, with Kolkata leading at a staggering 50 per cent. Chennai, with the lowest loss, accounts for 20 per cent water loss. To combat this, Grundfos introduced Demand Driven Distribution (DDD) to reduce leakage in water utilities and distribution networks.

DDD helps in reducing water leakage by up to 20 per cent, which also saves energy in pumping it. Intelligent water management solutions use sensors to analyse water demand for different areas in a city and allocate resources accordingly.