The answer to one of the world’s most pressing problems — access to clean water — lies not in rivers, lakes or underground reserves, but in the very air we breathe. Five teenage boys from VIDYA School, Gurugram, helmed by Principal Ila Sarin, have proven it with their award-winning innovation in harvesting water from the atmosphere.
The first prize winners who devised a way to extract water from air, are now preparing to present their intriguing project at Be the Change (BTC) Conference, organised by the World Human Forum in Athens, Greece in November 2026.
Meeting Geetanjali Pande, Director — Resource and Donor Management, VIDYA, provided a deeper insight. Describing the fascinating process, she said, “We told our students to shut their eyes and ‘Reimagine India in 2047’. It was the theme given by Design for Change India (DFC) for our ATMOS Water Project. Initiated in late 2025, when DFC sent their educator to spend time with our students, our work-in-progress ATMOS water idea got picked up.”
The idea of generating water in and around their communities resonated with Prince Pal, Shubhranshu Dhal, Bhavisha, Bikram Roy, and Sanjib. The first-generation learners from Vidya School, which nurtures children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, had been facing water scarcity issues with contaminated water flowing from taps twice a week in the areas they lived.
Shubhranshu remembers, “Our mothers often paid for bottled water. This further dented the already low income of our families.”
“Solving the important water scarcity issue led us boys to form the Water Harvesting Crew group,” informs Bikram.
Prince continues, “I had read that water from air is the purest form. Why couldn’t we harvest water from our atmosphere? Maybe water was never scarce, maybe our thinking was. We named our project ATMOS Water.”
“The project was shared at the Q2L Conference in Bangalore in December 2025. Mr. Kiran Kumar Sen, Chief Operating Officer, Inrem Foundation, excited about the idea, connected ATMOS with Uravu Labs to see how we could ‘create’ water,” explains Geetanjali.
Uma Ramachandra, Board Member at VIDYA since 2018, adds, “Meanwhile, back in Gurugram, in mid-December, fog had started setting in. The children initially dug pits and tried to take out a few droplets on condensation.”
ATMOS member Bhavishya made a makeshift equipment with plastic bottles and a tiny handmade fan to get atmospheric water. “Getting a few droplets, needed at least two litres to start with”, he claims.
In order to produce two litres, a larger water harvester costing Rs. 8000, which was capable of producing 10 to 12 litres, was required to take advantage of the winter in Gurugram.
Included in ATMOS at this stage was VIDYA’s gardener Lalan Mahto, popularly, known as Lalan mali bhaiya to help make fog nets with green gardening nets, sticks and pots to collect water in. Lalan suggested he could replicate the fog nets on the terrace.
Bikram excitedly recalled, “On Day 1 we harvested about 300 millilitres of water, and this continued daily. Lalan mali bhaiya collected different quantities daily, and within the first week five litres were harvested.” As they progressed, the excited students shared their concept with teachers and students during the school Assembly.
At home, mothers got involved and throughout winter put out plastic sheets, made small fog nets and collected water droplets in small katoris (bowls).
Geetanjali enthuses, “Soon the water collection table had 50 litres of water – a Eureka moment for us!” The ATMOS Water Project was submitted in January 2026 to DFC with a three months response time.
When VIDYA contacted the Inrem COO, the challenge VIDYA faced was to sensitise people towards the students of the ATMOS Water Team. They were still not totally self confident. Most had never spoken to any stranger outside their own families and school circle. They didn’t speak English fluently, yet, they came prepared with brilliantly unique ideas.
The VIDYA team reached out to Swapnil Shrivastava, CEO of Uravu Labs, Bangalore, who was already making water from air. He offered to brief and mentor the ATMOS Water team. The ATMOS Water Team, by now further determined to solve the lack of water situation, kept experimenting with new ideas. Uravu Labs stepped in to guide the students further.
“In the interim we came up with a diagram of a prototype. KPMG, one of VIDYA School’s donors, was fascinated with ATMOS and got involved,” confirms Uma’’. She continues, “Facing monetary limitations for developing a perfect prototype by ourselves, KPMG generously gave us Rs. 25,000 for our projects in progress.”
Further help came in from Inrem for the purification of water collected through fog harvesting. It led to ATMOS purifying 50 litres of harvested water, which was submitted as progress of their project beyond DFC’s submission.
Prince adds, “Our mission is to harvest five litres of water daily. We are working on this prototype with help from Swapnil Sir’s team. Our collective dream is to create a simple tool through which each home can harvest water from air in a sustainable way.”
The Red Letter Day was on 11 March 2026 when ATMOS won the 1st prize in the global DFC I CAN SCHOOL CHALLENGE competition. A big milestone for the ATMOS team is being invited to represent India at the Be The Change Conference Athens, Greece between 26th and 29th of November 2026.
Sums up Geetanjali optimistically, “We are now in the preparatory stage, most critically collecting funds for passports, visas, air fares and appropriate clothes, etc. for three of the boys.
The students are motivated and aware that they must improve their skills in conversational English, upgrade their vocabulary, learn basic etiquette — and even improving the handwriting of one of the boys while continuing to experiment with water harvesting.
Principal Ila Sarin and Board Member Uma will be accompanying the boys to Athens.
Aptly, the Principal, concludes. “I am so proud of our boys. The initial Water Harvesting Crew, now known as the ATMOS Water Team, has paved the way for many other students to join in and move ahead on this fantastic achievement. As drought conditions ravage the world, and access to safe drinking water has become an immediate issue, I believe that this project has the potential to go beyond the classroom, and have a real impact worldwide.”
Vidya India Website
CONTACT for Fund Raising
School Bank Account Details
Name of School – VIDYA School Gurgaon
Bank Name – Canara Bank
Account Number – 3897101000487
IFSC Code (RTGS/NEFT) – CNRB0018181
Bank Address – Canara Bank, DLF Phase III, Gurgaon, Haryana – 122010
Amita Sarwal
After practising homoeopathy for 10 years, Amita Sarwal changed her career path. Since 1973 she has been writing on lifestyle, personalities, architecture, interiors and travel. In Singapore, she was an Editor with Editions Didier Millet for pictorial encyclopedias, books and magazines. Her personal milestone continues to be The Spirit of SKV – Chronicle of a Girls’ School, to mark the Golden Jubilee (2006) of her alma mater, Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior. To showcase the exemplary work being done by Changemakers / Unsung Heroes, Amita now focuses on writing about how they are elevating the lives of the socially disadvantaged.