RDS (River Defense System)

An Integrated, Modular Approach towards self-cleaning rivers and management of storm surges.

Problem Statements:

• Tackling the grass-roots level problem of waste introduction into the ocean through rivers. (The Ganges in India alone receives 1.5 billion liters of untreated sewage every day.)
• Destruction of densely-populated communities that thrive on riverbanks by storm surges and floods. This problem is also expected to grow in the coming years due to climate change and global warming.
• The catastrophic effect of estimated 8 million tons of micro-plastics and submerged plastic on river ecosystems.
• Poor management of river water for irrigation and human use, resulting in wastage of usable water and fueling unsustainability.
• Depletion of groundwater in major cities such as Bangalore, London, Chennai, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, Cape Town, Mexico City, Melbourne, etc. rendering them virtually dry.
• Need for a revolutionary new technology to realize India's vision of reducing water pollution by 90% and recharging 25% of its Groundwater by 2030.
• Destruction of delicate ecosystems due to toxins present in contaminated river water, over 80% of which is discharged into rivers without treatment, according to the UN.
• Buildup of harmful waste alongside riverbanks that prevents local fauna from accessing water resources and hampers local cultures, activities, and industries that depend on the rivers, for example, fishing.
• Large-Scale contamination of water in India, with 80% of all water and 70% of all surface water being contaminated.
• Very small amount of usable irrigation water present in India, hampering the growth of the agricultural sector.
• Carbon saturation in the river water due to acidic waste which lowers its pH levels and destroys aquatic ecosystems.
• Impure water for human consumption and irrigation as a result of deteriorating water quality.
• Buildup of Industrial Grease in river water, choking fish, and causing disruption of the local food chain.
• Destruction of habitats and harm to fish caused by massive and disruptive geological alterations through dams, orthodox levees, and outdated river management systems.
• Growing ignorance of the masses towards conserving river ecosystems.
• Existing technologies' incapability to filter tomorrow's river waste, which is expected to triple in the next decade.
• Destruction of wetlands due to expansive and inefficient planning of river embankments, is catastrophic, because wetlands act as natural water filters, reducing the impact of storm surges and flash floods on inhabitants.
• Water scarcity, which affects 4 billion people today, is only expected to worsen as the world population grows.
• Restriction of mobility on river waters due to said problems.

It is an Integrated, Modular technology that uses a combination of bubble trap technology, extendable barriers placed on riverbeds, a unique arrangement of innovative levees, state-of-the-art filtration facilities, and definitive solutions to a plethora of problems and achieving this while having a sustainable approach. Below are the solutions to some of the major problems outlined above:

• The RDS is an approach that consists of easy-to-construct modules that can be placed along course of a river and have a lasting impact even if few in number.
• In the United States alone 140 lives are lost and $8 billion is spent on damages due to storm surges every year. The RDS efficiently manages flash floods and reduces their impact by a considerable amount through the diversion of excess flood water into irrigation canals, water storage facilities, and other secondary systems.
• The RDS uses innovative bubble trap technology and maximizes its effect by strategically placing them in the module. This technology helps to divert microplastics, submerged plastics and other waste into saturation points located between the levees and facilitate their removal. With 8 million tons of plastic waste entering rivers every year, this goes a long way in conserving the environment.
• The RDS utilizes the unique placement of levees which doesn't hamper the flow of the river and prevents the formation of expansive reservoirs of water.
• The RDS uses a combination of technologically advanced carbon filters and pH neutralizers to facilitate the improvement of water quality.
•  The RDS will help positively impact the natural ecosystem, it will pave the way for eco-tourism and other activities that will raise awareness for river conservation hence, the RDS has a great social impact. 
• The RDS facilitates unobtrusive river commute and provides a solution to all said problems without blocking the river's flow, transportation, and natural outreach.

Our solution aims to improve the livelihood of communities living downstream of major rivers that face challenges like floods, pollution, water contamination, water insecurity, the risk to agriculture, and animal husbandry. We envision providing a large-scale relief to such a populous which may be incapable of funding large-scale levee construction and expensive as well as numerous water filtration facilities. Our target populous mainly consists of economically backward sections of society and industrial communities placed alongside riverbanks that face the possibility of losing their livelihoods through just one decisive catastrophe.

Our solution will also serve communities that are adversely affected by the likes of storm surges and ensure that they are secured against constant loss of life and property. As per our research, major river-dependent communities are at constant risk of flooding, and it is impractical for us to build levees along the entire course of a river which will lead to exponential losses of lives and property downstream.

The RDS system is a relatively easy-to-maintain and practical approach to tackling these issues and it, most importantly, does not destroy the river ecosystems or artificially change its course. Hereby the RDS guards the livelihoods of such communities.

Our team has firsthand experience in conserving the local ecosystem of our city, Pune. Since a young age, we have actively participated in cleanliness and conservation drives, through various NGOs. We have also had experience when it comes to spreading awareness and promoting responsibility towards our ecosystems and we have done so by becoming a part of various social awareness campaigns. We have also observed the pitiful state of our local rivers, Mula and Mutha, which has filled us with a deep desire to clean and conserve these divine sources of life and that is why we have interacted with the common public when it came to improving these rivers' condition. We believe that though we might not be educationally empowered to tackle such a large-scale problem, we have firm faith in our conviction, the guidance of our mentors, and the support of the common public. 

We have reached out to proactive contributors in river conservation and have asked them to guide us in our bid to clean rivers and empower river-dependent communities. We have also conducted some surveys through various mediums and have received constructive feedback from several people. We have explored the targeted areas in our locality and also researched on potentially insightful areas in other regions. We have explored the communities we target and have made the necessary changes by understanding their needs. Since we are a part of the communities being impacted, extensive discussions with our contacts has given us many insightful conclusions. Finally, after contemplating over many perspectives and also taking into account our personal experiences, we have come to take certain decisions which have shaped our approach. 

Our solution tackles the basic issue of waste and flood management in rivers and deviates from the conventional usage of levees and embankments that disrupt the commutability of the river and its ecosystem as well. Our solution enables the collection of waste and management of storm surges and floods in an efficient manner that enables the river to maintain its integrity and preserve its ecosystem. This technology is innovative as it combines existing and new technologies in a well-balanced ecosystem that takes advantage of new thought and creativity to seamlessly mold these ideas into a single, easy-to-replicate and manufacture module which might take several years for other competitors to catch up to. However, we support the concept of integration and state it as one of our major pillars and we are open to collaborating with other organizations to expand the RDS' reach. We are convinced that this solution can combine the resources we have at hand and some of our innovations to create a scalable and highly impactful product. 

Our goals for the next year are given in the below timeline format:

• Present – '23 year-end: We plan to further refine our blueprint and explore further ideas to optimize the RDS' performance. Our main objective will be to rigorously test our system on simulation software and analyze every single aspect of it. Our end goal is to prove and produce a definitive, final blueprint and explore ways to prototype it.
• '24 First Half: Our goal for this period is to prototype our model and initially test it in a controlled environment such as a lab. The next step will be to collaborate with government agencies and test it on a small-scale stream. The end goal is to make a functional proof-of-concept on the Mula river and successfully prove its efficiency. This model, however, will only consist of some basic functionalities.
• '24 Second Half: We plan to use the data collected from our previous prototypes to optimize the scalability factor of the approach. A developmental prototype is expected to be built on the river Mula with the cooperation and support of the local government. If that is not achieved, then we will look towards private investors that can help takes RDS to the next level. We will also look out for funding given to startups as a part of various government and private schemes. The final goal for our full-fledged prototype will be to gain insights into the social impact of the RDS and how it is benefiting the local population in terms of managing floods and pollution.

We have firm faith that the reduced levels of toxicity as a result of the deployment of the RDS will have an immediate and transformational impact on the lives of people directly or indirectly dependent on it.

The core technologies that we implement in the RDS are listed below with their respective details:

• Bubble Trap Technology: The bubble trap works by pumping air through perforated tubes placed on the river beds which then create bubbles that rise to the surface and carry away any waste particles with them. This technology is currently undergoing advanced testing and implementation in countries like the Netherlands. We aim to give this technology a modular aspect by making standardized tubes and defining a bubble size for our application.
• Extendable Barriers: Such technology is being implemented to serve as collapsible levees or segmented barriers. However, we aim to use a different version of such barriers in our project as showcased in the video.
• Spiral Valve: This is a novel technology that uses alloyed sheet metal which is cut in a spiral shape. This metal can deform at high-pressure gradients, by a definite, predictable amount, thus allowing for a specific flow rate.
• Extended Levees: Unlike traditional levees, we plan to make modular and segmented levees that can be installed on-site by weighing them down using sand. These levees are easy to maintain and replace.
• Filtration Facilities: These facilities consist of a plethora of various filtration capabilities that can be adjusted according to a river's needs. Our process of handling such variables is an automated one, and we plan to use machine learning to further perfect it. 

Our solution aims to meaningfully affect the lives of 70 to 80 thousand people, by next year, who are mainly slum inhabitants, directly affected by the Mula river. Our initial target zone will be the Pune Metropolitan area, before expanding to further locations in Maharashtra and Gujrat.

The three main challenges that we face to accomplish our goals in the next year are:

• Non-compliance from the Government: As of now, we are yet to completely explore all the areas in which the Government can lend us support. We have planned to initiate our talks and have only spoken to a few contacts. Hence, we are entirely sure about the Government's response and whether they would be willing to permit the implementation of the RDS.
• Financial Backing: As of now we are completely bootstrapped, and to initiate the phase of advanced testing, we will need access to a certain lump sum that will enable us to run advanced simulations and expand the reach of our social integration.
• Patent/Idea Safeguards: We are unsure of the way forward when it comes to patents or at least giving us certain safeguards to prevent the plagiarism of our technology by market competitors.  We feel that this is one of the major challenges we will have to immediately overcome to establish ourselves in the market.

We aim to be a for-profit company, that pairs social cause with a self-sustainable approach that aims to generate sustained innovation. We will be aiming to sell our products to both governments as well as private organizations as a part of their bid to contribute to society. Regardless of the buyer, the revenue will be divided into four major streams:

1. Installation Fee: We will charge an initial upfront fee that covers the cost of the technology, materials, and labor, and also includes a small portion that goes towards profits. The more modules that are bought at the same time, the greater will be the net discount for the buyer. This stream does not comprise a major part of the influx of cash, and that is why we have a second revenue stream.
2. Maintenance/Upkeep Fee: The purchase of the RDS comes with a contract awarding us the exclusive rights to perform maintenance on any component of the RDS. Per module, each month, the buyer will have to pay a definitive amount towards maintenance, the surplus of which will go towards profits. This stream will comprise most of the revenue and help us have a constant cash flow influx every month.
3. Eco-tourism: An additional stream of revenue will come in the form of Eco-tourism. Tourists will be provided guided tours of the RDS and the complex yet beautiful ecosystems it creates for a nominal fee. The portion of the revenue this stream will comprise will be fixed after much analysis and further experimentation. Along with earning profits, Eco-tourism will promote awareness of our cause.
4. Data Market: The RDS system will be outfitted with multiple sensors which would collect data related to the river and its effect on the environment and the weather. This data then may be sold to the local meteorological department or other private players working in this field for a profit.

We aim to achieve financial sustainability in two phases, namely in the Short Term, and in the Long Term.

1. Short-Term Sustainability: We feel that this solution is a vast improvement to the existing ones available in the market, and hence, it will be imperative for the government and other agencies to invest in our system. Additionally, the Installation Fee is greater than the making costs for the RDS system thus making our startup a Profitable or at the least, a Neutral business. This, we believe, will make our startup attractive for private investors looking to invest in a greater cause. We are certain that Data Sales will give a steady, though a small stream of income.
2. Long-Term Sustainability: As the number of active modules increases, it becomes more and more unlikely that all of them will fall into a state of disrepair at the same time. Also, only a small number of modules will need large-scale maintenance every month. This means that every month a sizable portion of the Maintenance Fee will be collected as profit. Over the long term, this will provide us with a large and steady stream of income, also making it our primary revenue stream. In the long term, the Eco-tourism industry will also flourish, and since it costs next to nothing to host a tour, the money earned this way will be pure profit.