Nowadays water plays an important role as polluted water causes to many diseases so Clean water is a luxury and one in eight people around the globe lack access to supplies of the stuff, and unsafe water is responsible for 60% to 80% of all disease in India alone. For these there are plenty of possible solutions such as new wells, pricey community water filters but an organization, which is called Sarvajal has introduced a new devise that is rapidly spreading across India known as solar-powered water ATMs.

Sarvajal has been honored this month as a Tech Award Laureate for its franchised water treatment facilities that leverage local cellular networks to remotely keep track of quality and quantity.

Sameer Kalwani, CTO of Sarvajal, has explained, “One of the objectives when we first started [in 2008] was to create a market-based mechanism of health care”. Hence, the solar-powered water ATM is a device that gives customers in rural areas access to clean water any time with the use of a pre-pay card that can be recharged via cellphone.

Here’s how the water ATM processed works:

local franchisees people who want to make money as water stewards for their community are allowed to operate ATMs in their villages. They pre-pay Sarvajal for water, and pick it up to dispense into the ATMs, which treat the water with reverse osmosis and ultraviolet rays. Community members get their pre-pay water balances from the franchisee, who is allowed to keep all cash from home deliveries. If something goes wrong with one of the cell phone network-connected ATMs (i.e. a leak), Sarvajal finds out immediately and fixes it.

Sarvajal’s franchisee network is growing fast. So far, there are 120 facilities in India serving 60,000 people for the price of less than $3 per month per family. In remote areas where clean water was impossible to come by before, this is more than just a luxury–it’s a potentially life-saving technology.