Taken to the cleaners

ODD JOBS

A cleaning company nows takes care of water storage tanks hygienically.

Technology, it seems, won't spare even the most mundane tasks that it appears we as a society took for granted. And for now, on the endangered list are those with brooms whom house-owners called every other year or so to give the water storage tank a good scrub.

Now, though, it seems they might soon find themselves jobless if Tanclean has its way. Part of Earth Water enterprise, Tanclean makes its money from handling tank cleaning jobs "" and doing it professionally.

Started six months back, it has already mopped up Rs 3 crore as a firm, and is busy in north and west India, where it's spreading its tentacles to offer clean water solutions.

Comments Sunil Ghorawat, managing director, Tanclean: "It is such a minimal task that people don't pay too much attention and are unaware of the problems dirty tanks can cause."

And if you didn't know, you'll be glad to learn that the six-part process seems as scientific as it is thorough. "It is a scientific procedure," says Ghorawat, "involving mechanical dewatering, sludge removal, high pressure cleaning, vacuum cleaning, anti-bacterial spraying and, finally, UV radiation".

Obviously, its biggest challenge is creating awareness about the process and its benefits. For this, the company is planning a number of below-the-line activities and putting channels in place in the current financial year. It has earmarked a spend of Rs 2 crore for these activities.

Tanclean operates on a franchisee basis and has 80 franchisees all over India, and is targeting 150 more by the end of this year. By end-2007, the company is targeting a turnover of Rs 10 crore.

Meanwhile, it has tied-up with the Indian Railways to clean water storage tanks at railway stations. Work was kick-started at New Delhi railway station, and Rohtak railway station is next on its agenda.

"It gave us a big boost when we cleaned the tank at the New Delhi station," says Ghorawat.

Predictably, the cost of cleaning a tank will vary. While that in a housing society may cost as little as Rs 500, Ghorawat says, "We cleaned a reservoir in Chinchwadi, near Pune, for which we charged Rs 19 lakh." No way the sweeper with the broom would get that!