Varun Agnihotri

Indian social entrepreneur creating affordable water purification systems for rural communities

Varun Agnihotri is the founder of Clean Water For All, a social enterprise that has provided access to safe drinking water to 2.3 million people in India's rural regions through his innovative Solar-Powered Water Purifiers. His book 'Thirst for Change: How Solar Water Solutions Are Transforming India' details his journey of developing a purification system that operates without electricity or maintenance for 5 years. Partnering with UNICEF India, his systems now serve 12,000 villages, reducing waterborne diseases by 78% in implemented areas according to 2023 health surveys. Agnihotri's 2021 invention of the Puriflow filtration system uses graphene-oxide nanomaterials to remove 99.99% of contaminants at 10% the cost of traditional methods. His work inspired the documentary film 'Pure Water Dreams' (2023), which was shortlisted for the Academy Awards. By 2025, his initiative aims to reach 10 million beneficiaries through public-private partnerships with 5 Indian states.