The role of AI for water security in the Indian subcontinent

A partnership between The University of Manchester, Stockholm University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology is harnessing innovative AI techniques to address the dual challenges of water scarcity and quality in South Asia.

Identifying water management challenges

Home to 18% of the world’s population, but with access to only 4% of the globe’s water resources, India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. Over extraction of groundwater, intense urbanisation and growing demand – as well as an increasingly unpredictable climate – are now exacerbating water management challenges.

It’s estimated that up to 70% of surface water in India is unfit for consumption. Access to clean, safe drinking water is an ongoing and serious challenge across the region. With industrial, pharmaceutical, agricultural and domestic waste frequently making its way into the water system, the risk of disease and the presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is concerning.

Water security – both in terms of quality and quantity – is the cornerstone of a sustainable society, and is fundamental to public health and economic development.

Tackling water security holistically

Water scarcity and quality tend to be addressed independently, yet they are inherently co-related. This collaboration seeks to identify new approaches to water management that bring these aspects together to tackle water security holistically.

Water Security in India: Does Artificial Intelligence Offer Solutions? is the first of three related projects, combining expertise from the three institutions to consider how AI might bring together predictive modelling of pollution, human-environment interactions, water usage, and supply and remediation selection. It explores whether AI-informed design could offer integrated solutions to current and future water challenges in India.

Two related projects followed, focusing on water quality. Antimicrobial Resistance in Surface and Groundwater in the Ganga Basin considered the relationship between AMR and pollution from antibiotics, particularly in rapidly developing cities.

A joint Manchester-KTH team, with collaborators in Bihar, demonstrated the existence of three important resistance genes in Indian surface and groundwater, and Detection of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Bangladesh Waters will build on those findings – with support from partner institutions – to focus specifically on AMR genes related to human antibiotics.

Understanding the potential of AI

This important collaboration will underpin a roadmap for assessing the feasibility of science-led and AI-based solutions to address the challenges associated with water security in India and beyond.

Working together on this important topic has strengthened partnerships between institutions, and generated long-term societal benefits through better understanding of AI capability and AMR. With complementary skills and overlapping interests, the strength of our combined team is much greater than the sum of its parts. Aligning closely with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the work will encourage further long-term partnerships and international collaborations, with the potential to have a real impact on water security in global south settings.