In 2001, Michael Sadanand Baptista's six-acre farm in Chikkamagaluru faced severe drought. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to find groundwater, he began looking for alternative solutions: instead of searching for underground water, could rainwater be returned to the soil?
However, collecting rainwater also presented challenges. Leaves, dirt, and silt slowed down the water movement, complicating the maintenance of traditional systems.
Therefore, Michael, along with his friends Vidjaraj and Sunil Gilbert, created the Rainy system—a self-cleaning filter. This filter separates dirt from rainwater and directs the clean water either into reservoirs or for replenishing groundwater reserves.
They then found a way to pump this water deep underground. Their V-Wire system directs filtered rainwater deep into the ground, helping to replenish aquifers that sustain wells.
Today, this idea is being applied far beyond Michael's farm. Currently, 10,000 Rainy filters have helped infiltrate about 10 million liters of water, and the V-Wire technology has restored 35 million cubic meters of water through 15,000 wells.
On the Infosys campus in Chennai, 165 wells used for replenishment have helped reduce freshwater consumption by 50%. Michael's answer to the water scarcity problem lies in a simple principle: not only take water from the earth but also return it.
The Rainy system, available from 8,500 rupees and carrying a 10-year warranty, demonstrates how a roof can become a source of water.