Meet the Innovator: Paarth Sharma of Aquatas
Paarth and the Aquatas team are members of the Social Innovation Lab’s 2019–20 Cohort. To learn more about SIL and the cohort, click here. Join them at our virtual SIL Impact Forum, available here! Stay tuned: Paarth’s pitch will be released at 3:45 PM EST on Wednesday, May 20th!
SIL: Tell us about Aquatas. What are you working on?
PS: Aquatas aims to address the global clean water shortage by providing an efficient and affordable water purification system that promotes the health and societal well-being of families around the world. Our solution aims to not just combat bacterial contaminants, but also heavy metals for a comprehensive water filtration.
SIL: Why did you decide to start this? Where did the idea come from?
PS: Near the end of my freshman year at Hopkins, I really wanted to work on a global health project. Wanting to better understand the true clinical needs that existed in different parts of the world, I begin contacting and interviewing clinicians from different countries, simply because I was curious. One thing that was common among many of those interactions was a discussion about heavy metal poisoning due to contaminated drinking water sources. After failing to find an affordable solution which could combat this in rural setting, I decided to start Aquatas with the rest of our team.
SIL: What would you consider success for your project? How will the world be different when Aquatas has been successful?
PS: There are so many solutions for clean drinking water out there. However, many of them don’t focus on heavy metals like lead and arsenic. In 2013, lead poisoning resulted in the death of almost 150,000 children globally and contributed to about 600,000 cases of children with intellectual disabilities, according to the WHO. This does not need to be the case. Our hope is that if implemented effectively, our solution can certainly help reduce these numbers and make a positive impact in the lives of many of these people.
SIL: What were you most excited about during your time with SIL?
PS: We were mainly just a lab project for quite some time. However, there is a big difference between creating a solution in the lab and implementing it in the real world. We were excited to be a part of SIL because we got the opportunity to learn and work on a lasting plan to ensure sustainability of our device during its implementation in local communities.
SIL: If you could give your past self one piece of advice for creating a startup, what would it be?
PS: Talk to your customers every step of the way!! As an engineer, I have made the mistake of staying in the lab and just iterating our device plenty of times. However, at the end of the day, you have to understand that if you want your solution to be sustainable, you have to design it with the customer in mind. Speaking with customers reduces the discrepancy between what is in our mind as innovators and what the end user actually wants. That’s critical to business success, as well.
SIL: What can we do to help you? Is there some way to get involved?
PS: We are currently at an exciting time in our work where we are getting our devices out to users for pilot studies and getting ready for market entry. If you would like to get involved or simply talk, please feel free to email us through the contact form on our website or our Impact Forum event page!
Join Paarth and Aquatas on the web at www.aquataswater.com and through social media on Instagram. You can connect with Paarth at SIL’s Impact Forum online, starting May 18th! Details available at this link.
