The first Clearford One system in India was constructed in 2015-16 at Jambudiyapura Village in Gujarat State, making the village the first open defecation free sewered tribal village in Gujarat. The project was funded by the Corporate Social Responsibly (CSR) budget for the local Gujarat Road and Infrastructure Company Limited (GRICL) a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), one of India's largest infrastructure companies.

The village homes while having piped drinking water to every home and 24x7 electricity had few toilets and only a couple of bathrooms and most villagers defecated in the open. Initial surveys by the Nalanda Foundation the CSR arm of IL&FS revealed that diarrheal illnesses were common and afflicted a few members in every house monthly. The problem was aggravated in the monsoon period when floodwaters mixed with the human waste.

IL&FS having recognized that conventional sewers would not be a sustainable solution as the low water usage would cause solids to accumulate and choke the pipes selected Clearford's unique small bore sewer design as it eliminates this problem.

One of the key points identified during the stakeholder discussion phase was that while the women of the village understood the importance of having toilets from a heath and safety perspective they were adamant that they wanted proper bathing facilities as they currently bathed in the village behind cloth screens in their yards with no privacy. Individual household washroom buildings were therefore designed keeping in mind the villagers needs for washing, bathing and toilet use.

The complete NBS wastewater servicing for the villages 56 homes included building new bathing and toilet facilities, Clearford's proprietary sanitary sewer system and a low maintenance sewage treatment facility. Wastewater from each toilet & bathroom unit is collected in a ClearDigest anaerobic natural biodigester that traps inorganics and gradually digests organics. The liquid portion is then conveyed by gravity through ClearConvey SBS sewers to the ClearRecover green sewage treatment facility. The end of the line STP chosen was in essence a constructed soil bio-technology unit which can best be described as comprising a series of vertical gravel and other media beds that filter and treat the sewage as it passes through. The treated water which meets all applicable pollution control board standards is then taken to a designated area on the outskirts of the village from where farmers pump it to their fields for irrigation as per their requirements.

To ensure sustainability as well as ease of operation, nowhere in the process are chemicals or cultured bacteria used; in fact, electricity is only used to pump the sewage from the underground pipe network to the STP. The installed project was commissioned in May 2016 and has now been operating for 4+ years with all operations being managed locally by the villagers through a women led sanitation committee. The current operating cost for the entire system including the 17m3/day STP is averaging INR 2500/month (USD 33.41) or INR 45/home/month (USD 0.60).

Subsequent site visits and interviews have revealed that cases of diarrheal illness have decreased dramatically and as few as 4-5 have occurred in the last four years. The recent flooding due to heavy rains did not result in any cases. Other changes mentioned to our team included increased school attendance, more savings from reduced medical expenditure and increased levels of pride amongst the villagers and especially the women of the village.