The development of inverters & water purifiers

What happens when the State is unable to provide services that it ought to? Answer: A perfect laissez-faire: where anyone can step in — and profit. There is a bright side too: jobs are created and people get what they want, though maybe not in full measure.

In our country, the painfully unreliable supply of bijli and paani has yielded two products: inverters and water purifiers.

These product lines have now developed into full-fledged industries whose offerings are getting more sophisticated by the day.

INVERTERS


The power inverter is now a must-have in most Indian homes. It is a device that converts direct current into alternating current, the type of electricity everyone gets at home.

Some 16-17 years ago, a simple inverter with a saw-tooth output — that caused an irritating hum in most appliances — would have powered maybe two tube lights and two fans.

Today, inverters are getting smarter and powerful: they run air-conditioners, TVs and refrigerators, and their sine-wave output doesn’t spoil gadgets.

WATER PURIFIERS

Started off as a simple combo of two containers with one having the purification candle(s) and the second serving as a receptacle with a faucet.



Then manufacturers introduced an electrical version that treated water by shining an ultraviolet light.

These days purifiers also have a reverseosmosis membrane filtering system that is supposed to be even more effective.