The joint venture of 23-year old Zahin Razeen and his sister Rizvana Hredita, Hydroquo+ was spawned from what the WHO referred to as the largest mass poisoning in history in 2000 when it was found that 30% of all drinking water in Bangladesh had been tainted with arsenic from aquifers. With the goal to help prevent such colossal disasters in the future and prevent water wastage through advanced water quality monitoring technology, Hydroquo+ comes at a fortunate time as people the world over grow more concerned over the healthiness of their drinking water sources.
As Bangladesh’s first hydro-informatics startup, Hydroquo+ develops, designs and executes specialist consultancy projects in the field of water quality monitoring and hydrological modelling to mitigate water-related challenges and their potential implications on the infrastructure, lives and livelihoods in real-time.
Delivering Smart Water Solutions
Through its water monitoring solutions, Hydroquo+ manages the risks that drinking water networks are exposed to on a regular basis. As such, Hydroquo+ collaborates with water supplies to provide real-time analysis of drinking water to help mitigate risks.
Starting with the raw water intake and leading all the way up to the distribution networks, Hydroquo+ monitors contaminant levels at every stage of the drinking water delivery process. Should a significant deviation occur from the norm, an alert is instantly triggered, providing suppliers with data in real-time to be able to make informed decisions. The system also factors in historical data to provide better analyses over the long term.
“We have put together a unique industry-first approach to automate testing, monitoring, and reporting at scale,” says Razeen. “Our organization is focused on delivering water intelligence to determine water safety and availability with actionable insights in real-time. Through this, we eventually hope to prevent and predict outbreaks to ensure water security for years to come.”
Hydroquo+ is also incorporating its technology in the commercial filtration process as well, such as in water treatment plants, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and food and beverage processing industries. Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) can also potentially benefit from the technology, according to Razeen.
Leading the Charge in Sustainable Development Goals
So far, Hydroquo+ has successfully collaborated with Dhaka Wasa and the Central Microbiology Laboratory on two different projects. At present, the start-up is working on transitioning towards the implementation of tracing technology for private water supply, as well as city and regional level utilities.
Already, the duo have garnered plenty of praise for their new startup, having made it onto this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.
“Last year was, however, a landmark year as I was selected as one of the 17 United Nations Young Leaders on a two-year mandate by the UN Secretary General’s Office, being the only Bangladeshi in the last four years,” Razeen told Dhaka Tribune.
“Hydroquo+ bagged the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Engineer 4Change (E4C) Rising star Award at New York’s Annual Impact Engineered Summit that brought together worlds innovative startups working to solve SDG’s. Forbes was a cascading effect of all the work we had done,” he further said.
Currently, the duo is in the process of closing a round for scaling up, and eventually, sometime in the future, they plan to branch out to different industry verticals in the Global South and MENA regions.