(In Half 1 of this sequence, we mentioned quite a lot of issues and options on a coverage stage about Bengaluru’s present water disaster, addressing points starting from state failure to reviving lakes, recharging town’s groundwater, constructing open recharge wells, and utilizing handled wastewater as a real useful resource. Right here we’ll talk about what residents can do to assist!)
Regardless of problems with state capability and the necessity to recalibrate water coverage in Bengaluru, there’s a lot residents can do to mitigate the water shortage downside.
Talking to The Higher India, S Vishwanath, a civil engineer and concrete planner with greater than three a long time of expertise within the water and sanitation sector, says, “If I do rainwater harvesting, devour much less water, recycle greywater, and ensure to minimise my demand, then there’s some quantity of water which I can save inside my entire zone. And the administration can switch a few of my zone’s water to a different which is dealing with shortage.”
For these dwelling within the affected space, particularly in house complexes with 20 models or extra (which are mandated to have their wastewater remedy plant), Vishwanath believes that in the event that they be sure that their wastewater remedy vegetation are operating effectively, then they’ll fulfil all their non-potable water necessities from these programs.
“If residents do rainwater harvesting effectively, their borewells may have water. If the group works across the lakes of their neighbourhood, comes collectively, and makes certain that the lake is cleaned up and de-silted together with the State, then these water our bodies will be capable to obtain rainwater and recharge the aquifer. Within the meantime, the surplus water from their STPs which are effectively handled may be led into these lakes in order that it recharges the aquifers. I imagine these are all of the steps that residents should take to guard town’s water assets,” he recommends.
However what steps has he taken in his own residence to cut back water consumption?
“In addition to being conscious of the quantity of water you devour, you may deploy applied sciences like aerators in your faucets or bathe heads. You be sure that the water you acquire after cleansing your dishes is used to water your vegetation or the backyard that you’ve,” he says.
“In my case, I be sure that all of the greywater is recycled. I be sure that to gather the wastewater from my washer and half-bucket bathtub water. I exploit eco-friendly soaps and detergents which wouldn’t have phosphates and phthalates. Because of this the wastewater from bathing or washing garments can be utilized for swabbing the ground, watering the terrace backyard, and cleansing the automobile. I’ve a dry compost rest room which requires no water for the final 25 years. In fact, this will appear a bit excessive to some but it surely has labored for me,” he provides.
Vishwanath’s house additionally has rainwater harvesting programs which are working optimally.
“Though the final rains within the metropolis have been in November, our 1,000-litre rain barrel nonetheless has sufficient water for our consuming and cooking wants until June. I’ve taken away vegetation which might have in any other case grown and left the backyard to be dry in order that when the rains come, I can restart my backyard. Proper now, I solely have drought-tolerant vegetation,” he shares.
“Additionally, I be sure that to make use of much less vitality (electrical energy). The much less vitality I exploit, the extra water you’re saving in some dam or thermal energy plant. It’s important to be conscious of the vitality you utilize and in regards to the meals you eat so that you don’t waste it. These are among the steps I’ve taken,” he explains.
‘How can I cut back my water consumption by 50%?’
One of many factors talked about by Vishwanath in decreasing his water consumption was using aerators. It’s one of many easiest hacks you may undertake in your house to cut back water consumption.
So, The Higher India spoke to Shashidhara Kumaraswamy, the co-founder of EverythingECO, a Bengaluru-based startup addressing the challenges of water and waste administration. Among the many merchandise EverythingECO manufactures are aerators which you could connect to washroom or kitchen faucets and restrictors for bathe heads and well being taps.
“Karunaprasada Kanavi and I began EverythingECO with a imaginative and prescient in 2016 to carry sustainability to companies and houses, addressing the challenges of water and waste administration. Earlier than stepping into enterprise, we checked out how individuals and completely different companies have been utilizing water, what their every day consumption ranges have been, and began considering of customised options required for every of them,” says Shashidhara.
When Shashidhara and his co-founder did an in depth audit on water consumption ranges throughout a number of places in Bengaluru, they discovered that every enterprise or residential unit has particular necessities based mostly on its utilization sample. In sure places, they discovered the circulate price measured in hand washing faucets to be round 15 to 16 litres per minute.
“Sometimes, we have now noticed that once you purchase faucets of ordinary fittings, their circulate price is between 14 to 18 litres per minute based mostly on water stress. Most fixtures bought commercially wouldn’t have any aerators. They arrive with filters to filter out the mud. These filters don’t do the job of water conservation, however solely make sure the laminar circulate of water,” he informs.
Throughout this audit, they concluded that faucets for hand washing ought to by no means have a circulate price of greater than 3 litres per minute. Equally, for kitchens, they understood that individuals required the next circulate price however no more than 6 to eight litres per minute. “In a really perfect situation, no faucet ought to have a circulate price of greater than 6 litres a minute,” explains Shashidhara.
“After we have a look at a number of use instances when it comes to hospitals, eating places, and bulk washing areas, their necessities are very completely different and never everybody can stay with spray faucets releasing 3 litres a minute. We began customized designs and options. Our firm does complete water audits for companies and supplies options for diverse sizes of faucets, addressing various forms of circulate charges which are required, and implementing them end-to-end,” he provides.
Aerators manufactured by EverythingECO begin with circulate charges (per minute) of 1 litre, 3 litres, 4 litres, and 6 litres. “Aerators with a circulate price of 0.5 and 1 litre per minute normally supply a mist-type circulate. However for industrial and residential flats, this circulate price is just too low to clean palms. For hand wash faucets, our aerator which restricts circulate charges to three litres a minute is widespread throughout all sectors. Many individuals go for 3 litres a minute aerator for his or her kitchen faucets as effectively, as a result of it successfully covers a bigger space for laundry utensils. If clients need laminar circulate of their kitchen faucets, then they go for 4 or 6 litres a minute aerators,” claims Shashidhara.
“Restrictors cut back the quantity of water that’s popping out from the pipes or the entry factors. You possibly can connect these restrictors to older kind faucets, well being taps and bathe heads and cut back the circulate price to anyplace between 6 to 9 litres a minute. Relying on the water stress of their bathe heads, individuals can use restrictors to restrict the circulate price to six to 9 litres,” he provides.
Shashidhara notes that there are a few questions residents ought to reply if they’re severe about decreasing private water consumption.
1) What’s my every day consumption and the place do I exploit my water?
In different phrases, how a lot water do I exploit for laundry my palms, bathing, shaving, brushing, washing garments and utensils, and so forth?
2) Understanding why I exploit X quantity of water in a day.
For instance, if I’m utilizing 400 litres of water a day, do I want this a lot to stay effectively? “Basic dwelling requires 3 litres of consuming, 5 litres of cooking (per day) and the remaining we’re washing and flushing down the drain,” he says.
3) How do I cut back my every day water consumption by 50%?
“And then you definately implement options obtainable together with aerators, restrictors, and utilizing low-flush bogs. Taking a shorter bathe helps save water in comparison with a 20-minute bathe. Attaching a restrictor with a circulate price of 6 litres to 7 litres per minute to an current bathe head will assist cut back water wastage by 50%,” he explains.
Having mentioned that, Shashidhara believes actual water financial savings come from a collective effort moderately than any individual altering a single faucet.
“You additionally should undertake a mechanism to cut back your utilisation. For instance, if you happen to set up an aerator in your kitchen faucet, however you might be washing utensils for an extended interval, then you definately’re not decreasing water consumption. Chances are you’ll find yourself consuming extra water than earlier than. You’ll want to be cognizant of the way you’re going to make use of water and prohibit the quantity popping out from the faucets and bathe heads,” he provides.
“Within the metropolis, we have now 1 crore 40 lakh inhabitants, 150 litres of water consumption per individual per day is required,” mentioned Bangalore Water Provide & Sewerage Board (BWSSB) chairperson Dr V Ram Prasath Manohar, based on a information report on 13 March 2024.
Absolutely, we don’t have to make use of this a lot water on a given day and might discover methods to avoid wasting.
Standardisation of faucets
“One problem we have now noticed lately is that a whole lot of faucet designs are altering. This is a vital side I need to spotlight,” explains Shashidhara.
“There’s a dire want for standardisation throughout the trade, builders, and Authorities on standardising fixtures backed by a ranking system for water conservation or effectivity. Except standardisation units in, new faucet designs will emerge and not one of the aerators will likely be suitable. When that occurs, circulate charges return to 16 litres/minute,” he provides.
In accordance with The Hindu in April 2023, the Union Authorities was bringing in a star ranking system for water fixtures just like the rankings {of electrical} home equipment. “The brand new ranking system would have 3, 4 and 5-star water fixtures based mostly on their water effectivity and this ranking system would come beneath one umbrella known as Bharat Faucet,” the report mentioned.
“Now we have now roped within the Indian Plumbing Affiliation and all producers to undertake and promote these requirements and usher in water-efficient fixtures. Bharat Faucet is a collaborative effort which was formulated beneath AMRUT 2.0 to drive water effectivity, and this may be achieved provided that water shops are environment friendly, be it sanitary fixtures or faucets,” mentioned D Thara, Extra Secretary, MoHUA (Ministry of Housing and City Affairs) and Mission Director, AMRUT 2.0.
Since this report, nevertheless, there have been no information experiences of this initiative’s progress.
Saving toilet-flushing water
In addition to attaching aerators and restrictors in your house, one other step you may take is to cut back the quantity of water you utilize to flush bogs. In accordance with one estimate, town is flushing out an unimaginable 486.5 million litres of water every day. Individuals can set up a low-flush rest room, use non-potable handled water as a substitute of freshwater, or undertake hacks just like the one developed by Subburaman M — a septuagenarian and resident of Trichy, Tamil Nadu, who received a Padma Shri for bettering sanitation in rural areas.
Subburaman is the founding father of the Society for Neighborhood Organisation and Individuals’s Schooling (SCOPE) — a non-profit which has put in 1.2 lakh bogs throughout India. In 2020, he developed a easy resolution in his house that permits greywater generated from washing palms for use for flushing the bathroom as a substitute of recent water.
Talking to The Higher India in April 2021, he mentioned, “Throughout the lockdown interval, everybody began washing their palms typically to remain secure from coronavirus. Nonetheless, many didn’t take into consideration saving water whereas doing so. Some individuals even preserve the water operating whereas lathering cleaning soap for 20 seconds. This results in huge wastage. So I began to think about methods we may reuse this water,” says Subburaman, including that he was impressed by an image of a Japanese rest room that had a washbasin built-in with a bathroom.
What Subburaman did was buy a brand new wash basin and match it proper on prime of a Western-style rest room. Nonetheless, he says that an previous one may be eliminated and refitted too.
“The concept was to attach the basin to the bathroom’s flush tank. To take action, the exit pipe from the basin was inserted on prime of the flush tank by a gap. The chopping work was finished with the assistance of a plumber,” mentioned Subburaman. As soon as the 2 have been fitted, they have been sealed in place, and the water connection was directed solely to the washbasin.
For the previous six months earlier than talking to The Higher India, he mentioned it was working completely and confronted no damages or leakages.
He even supplied a five-step handbook on how you are able to do the identical at your own home:
Step 1: With assist from a plumber, set up an previous/new washbasin on the wall over the bathroom’s flush tank.
Step 2: Create a gap, as massive because the outlet pipe, on the flush tank.
Step 3: As soon as the washbasin is mounted, insert the outlet pipe into the flush tank.
Step 4: Direct the water provide to the washbasin and switch off the valve resulting in the bathroom.
Step 5: Open the faucet and let the water run for a number of seconds to verify for any leakages.
It takes as much as three or 4 hand washes to refill the flush tank. To keep away from touching the faucet whereas washing palms, he additionally had a foot pedal put in which he says is optionally available.
Encouraging Bengaluru’s residents
There’s one factor the native administration — whether or not it’s the BBMP or the State Authorities — can do to encourage its residents to avoid wasting water as a substitute of constructing one other app. They will take inspiration from one of many many steps that town of Cape City in South Africa took.
What did they do?
They revealed an in depth water map of town combining water utilization information with homes colour-coded based mostly on how a lot water each was consuming. Solely these homes which hit water-consumption/saving targets set by the administration have been acknowledged. Metropolis directors knew which homes weren’t assembly their targets, however they created a map to not disgrace anybody however to recognise those who did meet their targets.
Because the City Sustainability Change famous in a preferred case examine, “the Water Map skilled among the highest web site visitors ever skilled by a Metropolis of Cape City webpage.”
The examine went on so as to add, “It was broadly reported on within the native media and obtained a lot consideration on social media. The Water Map thus achieved substantial water conservation consciousness and is believed to have contributed to the dramatic reductions in home water use, which prevented the Metropolis from operating out of water, the so-called ‘Day Zero’.”
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Photographs courtesy Shutterstock/WESTOCK Productions/MudaCom)
