Each drop of water counts. This needs to be a mantra for everybody because the world faces a extreme water scarcity. Are you aware how a lot water is used each time
Each drop of water counts. This needs to be a mantra for everybody because the world faces a extreme water scarcity. Are you aware how a lot water is used each time you flush? In older bogs put in in India, virtually 5 to 10 litres of water are used per flush. For a household of 4 utilizing the bathroom a minimum of thrice a day every, that’s a staggering 3,600 litres of water monthly!
Whereas newer bogs include low flush choices, what can folks with older bogs do? This query troubled the residents and administration committee members of Saprem Co-operative Housing Society in Thane, Maharashtra.
Thane, like many components of the nation, has been dealing with a main water disaster lately. With reservoirs drying up, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) introduced a ten % water lower beginning in June 2024 to preserve the obtainable water.
This has additionally impacted the water provide to the Thane Municipal Company (TMC). Consequently, it’s now as much as residents to take motion, each individually and collectively, significantly in gated communities and housing societies.
As an alternative of relying solely on the water equipped by the TMC and buying extra tankers, the residents of Saprem CHS determined to develop into self-sufficient of their water wants. How?
Learn on to search out out.
A panacea for water woes
Inbuilt 1997, the society has two wings and 64 flats in complete. Over the previous decade, residents grappled with main water shortages. “We had a number of days after we had water provide just for an hour or so. We additionally needed to name for a water tanker from outdoors, paying 1000’s of rupees daily. It was a really troublesome time,” Avinash Shaligram, secretary, Saprem CHS, tells The Higher India.
The issue was exacerbated in households the place everybody would go to work or faculty and return to no water. After enduring this ordeal for months, the residents started brainstorming and developing with completely different options. One factor was clear — they needed to save water in any means they might.
The society has a water tank with a capability of 20,000 litres. As they began breaking down the fundamentals of water utilization of their households, one quantity stood out — the quantity of water used within the bogs.
“We discovered that each time we flush the bathroom, it makes use of 5 litres of water. In a family of 4 members who every use the washroom 4 instances a day, it quantities to 80 litres of water per day. For the whole society, that was a whopping 5,120 litres of water per day, greater than 1/4th of the tank’s capability,” provides Shaligram.
They questioned the way to stop this pure useful resource from being ‘flushed’ down!
To seek out an alternate water supply, they performed a geological survey and dug a borewell. They struck water 350 toes under the floor and commenced utilizing this water for his or her bogs. This instantly solved their water woes, offering a 24-hour water provide!
Not stopping there, the residents sought a strategy to recharge the groundwater. To this finish, they constructed a rainwater harvesting system. “The rainwater that was being collected on the terrace was going to waste, in a drain. We needed a system that may acquire this water and divert it into the borewell,” says Arun Deshmukh, administration committee member, Saprem CHS.
The way it works
Corrugated sheets have been put in on the rooftop with bars on the facet. Eight pipes have been fastened throughout the size of the rooftop to gather rainwater. These pipes are linked to pipes on the bottom that channel the water to the borewell.
Put in virtually three years in the past, this technique has made the residents self-sufficient and prevents rainwater from going to waste. They’ve been utilizing this water for his or her bathroom wants and at the moment are exploring methods to make use of it for different functions. “We had the water examined nevertheless it was unfit for different use. We’re getting it examined once more now to see if it might probably a minimum of be used for laundry garments,” says Shaligram.
Saving AC Water
As soon as this resolution produced phenomenal outcomes, the keen residents appeared for additional methods to avoid wasting water. One other important supply of water wastage was the water from air conditioners (ACs). Nearly each home within the society has an AC, says Deshmukh.
Throughout summers, these ACs run all night time and for lengthy hours throughout the day, particularly on weekends and in work-from-home conditions. Typically, a one-tonne air conditioner produces 10 litres of water if used for eight hours — with this quantity growing based mostly on the dimensions of the AC. To stop this condensate (a liquid obtained by condensation of a gasoline or vapour) from going to waste, Saprem CHS members devised a way to put it aside.
An extended pipe runs down the constructing, with particular person connections to every home to gather the condensate from their air conditioners. This water is funnelled into a large pipe on the backside of the constructing, which is fitted with a faucet for straightforward entry. This pipe can maintain as much as 15 litres of water. This water is used to water the crops and wash automobiles within the society.
“We now have 25 automobiles and 80 two-wheelers. We’re ready to make use of this water to scrub them, successfully reusing the water. In summer time months, we additionally use it to water the crops,” says Deshmukh. Even when we contemplate that it takes about 10 litres of water to scrub a automotive and 5 litres to scrub a two-wheeler, this technique saves over 19,000 litres of water monthly!
The society members at the moment are exploring methods to develop into utterly self-sufficient for his or her water wants. Shaligram mentions that they’re completely satisfied to information different societies in implementing comparable programs. The rainwater harvesting system and the AC condensate pipes every at present value Rs 1 lakh to put in.
“Water is a finite useful resource. We have to reserve it in no matter means potential,” he remarks.
Edited by Pranita Bhat.
Sources
‘Smaller bathroom tanks may save 10 % of water’ Revealed On 8 April, 2015 Courtesy Occasions Of India
‘Mumbai to face 5% water lower from Could 30, 10% from June 5 as lake ranges fall’ Revealed On 26 Could, 2024 Courtesy Enterprise Right this moment
