Ramkrishna Mukkavilli
Founder and Managing Director
Maithri Aquatech
India
Having grown up in various regions of India, including the extremely dry Marathwada region, perhaps it’s only fitting that Ramkrishna Mukkavilli would found a sustainable water solutions company, Maithri Aquatech.
Under his guiding hand, Maithri developed MEGHDOOT, an innovative atmospheric water generator used in communities that suffer from a lack of potable water.
Its patented technology condenses water vapour from air that is then filtered and remineralized for drinking and other uses. The company has deployed more than 600 installations of MEGHDOOT in 27 countries in SouthEast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
For his work providing clean water access to people in need, Mukkavilli was named the 2022 SDG Pioneer for Water Stewardship by the UN Global Compact. The yearly programme honors company professionals who promote the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in their work.
“Maithri Aquatech as a company was started with the goal of sustainably improving water security and mitigating global water scarcity,” he told the UN Global Compact. “With this goal in mind, the company’s solution MEGHDOOT was developed to sustainably generate clear, potable water wherever it is needed.”
The MEGHDOOT atmospheric water generator uses refrigeration techniques and minimal energy to condense humidity from air. It sucks air through an electrostatic filter, and cooled coils provide a temperature differential that creates condensation.
With MEGHDOOT, which in Sanskrit means Messenger of the Sky, the company says it has generated more than 100 million liters of fresh water from air.
Maithri Aquatech also regularly organizes a webinar series called AquaTalks, in which industry experts discuss sustainability, water and innovation, and it shares information on sustainability through a newsletter called AquaBuzz.
“Water is an existential need on planet Earth, and a number of SDGs are directly or indirectly impacted by it,” Mukkavilli said.
“Given this, we would like to focus on building sustainable, predictable, affordable and decentralised solutions that can provide access to clean, fresh water on a scalable basis, thereby helping support the SDGs,” he said.
“We have been collaborating and will continue to partner with private and public institutions, governments and NGOs globally, to progress these goals for a better planet for generations to come.”
