Ripple Effect

How a revolutionary solar-powered water pump is transforming the lives of small-plot farmers in India How a revolutionary solar-powered water pump is transforming the lives of small-plot farmers in India

by Dan Morrell

How a revolutionary solar-powered water pump is transforming the lives of small-plot farmers in India How a revolutionary solar-powered water pump is transforming the lives of small-plot farmers in India

For farmers in the tribal belts of Jharkhand, in eastern India, the growing season is monsoon season, lasting from June to September. From February to June, though, the heat and lack of rain makes growing impossible, sending many farmers out of the region to find better places to grow or other ways to make money.

For farmers in the tribal belts of Jharkhand, in eastern India, the growing season is monsoon season, lasting from June to September. From February to June, though, the heat and lack of rain makes growing impossible, sending many farmers out of the region to find better places to grow or other ways to make money.

In 2015, Katie Taylor, MS (BS ’13) and her cofounder at engineering startup Khethworks deployed five solar-powered water pumps they had designed to the Jharkhand region, allowing farmers there to water their crops by accessing available groundwater—without having to spend money to fuel diesel powered pumps. To Taylor, the experience was a powerful proof of concept not just of Khethworks’ technology, but of the wider implications: One of the local farmers who got a pump was also the local school principal, and instead of migrating, he stayed home in his village, keeping school open for an extra couple of months. “I really saw the ripple effect of the impact across the fabric of these villages,” says Taylor.

For Taylor, this first success was the culmination of a vision that dated back to her first summer home as an undergrad at Pomona College, where she was studying subjects like environmental science, sexual politics in the Middle East, and sculpture. “It was super hippy-dippy, which I loved,” says Taylor. She was hanging out with her two older brothers late one night, lecturing them about the problems of the world. After a while, they halted the monologue. “You need to stop talking about this and either do something or just keep it to yourself,” they told her. She hatched a plan: Always good at numbers and building things, her path to impact would be through engineering. “We figured it’d be a good tool to effect change, particularly in the developing wo

She was aware of the challenge ahead. After enrolling in a joint engineering program between Pomona and Caltech, she went to the student center on her first day at Caltech and asked for tutors in all five of her courses. “They said, ‘This is not how it works—usually students come to us after a couple weeks when you’re struggling,’” she says with a laugh. She relied on those tutors, was a frequent visitor at her professors’ office hours, and “worked long, long hours.”

With her focus still squarely on impact, she pressed on—through her graduation at Caltech and onto MIT to continue her engineering studies. There she met her Khethworks cofounders, Kevin Simon and Victor Lesniewski, and the three focused on solving the irrigation problem that many east Indian farmers were facing. During visits to the region, Taylor found that while there was plenty of available groundwater, there was no easy or affordable way to access it. So she asked the farmers about what kind of product would work for them. They told her they needed a durable, portable, easy-to-use pump, something that wouldn’t require the women—often left behind in the village as the men migrated for work—to have to hire laborers to start up, as they often had to do with diesel pumps. This on-the-ground product research proved invaluable. “User-centered design is key to the success of the product,” says Taylor. “It’s key to serving people the way they want to be served, which is really important to us because that’s what we were there to do—to serve these farmers.”

“The beauty is that, when it works, the farmers are making more money, our company is making more money, the companies who are selling our product are making more money. It’s just a beneficial thing all around.”

— Katie Taylor, MS (BS ’13)

The development process took years

The development process took years and countless revisions, but eventually Khethworks developed a highly efficient, solar-powered submersible pump system that weighs under ten pounds. It was a massive breakthrough with enormous commercial potential, but cashing in quickly was never Taylor’s goal. “Some investors, of course, wanted us to move faster,” says Taylor. “But we were deliberately cautious about [determining] when we felt that we were finally ready to enter the market. The beauty is that, when it works, the farmers are making more money, our company is making more money, the companies who are selling our product are making more money. It’s just a beneficial thing all around. But we can’t do it wrong. It would’ve been unethical, and the company would’ve failed, too.”

Today, Khethworks has sold about 675 pumps, and Taylor says the pumps are usually shared by four farmers. “So we’re looking at close to 3,000 people, and of course, those people have families, so the impact has been massive,” says Taylor, who left her CEO position at Khethworks in December 2021 for a board role guiding strategy.

As impressive as the numbers are, it’s the anecdotes from the users that keep the company motivated. Taylor recounts the story of three women who pooled their money to buy a pump to help extend the growing season on their plot of land. “The previous year, they had made the equivalent of about $100,” she says. “And then, using the pump for one summer, they ended up making $780.” That money goes into buying more nutritious food, buying more land, investing in children’s education, and female economic and social empowerment in the village, says Taylor. “It’s the kind of thing that is simply transformative.”

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