[am1m]

Originally Posted by chandras1

The rainfall in Bangalore is wide spread over months unlike any other metro in India. Its only criminal mismanagement and wastage of a precious resource that has led to a situation like this.

Very true. Personal experience with rainwater harvesting- we only have one Sintex tank of 500 ltrs, which is directly connected to one of the drain pipes from our terrace through a basic mesh filter. That very, very basic and very, very cheap RWH setup is more than enough with Bangalore's rainfall to water all our plants, all year round, and there are enough plants to line 2 sides of our house (30x40 plot size).

Sadly, very, very few households are ready to implement even this very basic RWH setup.

Imagine what could be done with a better planned and slightly better RWH design and setup. Integrated drain pipes from the terrace into a bigger tank, interconnected tanks so that spillage during the rain is also collected, groundwater recharge, etc. etc. With a better filter we could use the water to flush our toilets and maybe even wash clothes. Then think of it on an apartment scale. Then a neighborhood scale - excess water directed through community plastic pipes laid alongside each house wall into a common tank that can be shared to water roadside trees, to be used for community activities, for less fortunate households after UV treatment and filtration, etc.

Like the road width (our roads are 'not wide enough' - because 50% of the road width goes for parking!), or almost any infra we have in India, criminal mismanagement (by us worthy citizens, not just the govt) is what causes the problem, not an actual scarcity per se.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by am1m

Imagine what could be done with a better planned and slightly better RWH design and setup. Integrated drain pipes from the terrace into a bigger tank, interconnected tanks so that spillage during the rain is also collected, groundwater recharge, etc. etc. With a better filter we could use the water to flush our toilets and maybe even wash clothes.

Reminds me of the scientist who has not paid water bills from the past 23 years because he has set up RWH in his residence and is not dependent on borewell / municipal water. The article (in the link) is inspirational for people who want to conserve water.

Link

Originally Posted by am1m

Then think of it on an apartment scale.

Having said that, the best that many apartments can do is collect the water from terrace and use for RWH - we are doing that in our apartment. The water from the terrace is diverted to the RWH setup next to the bore well to recharge groundwater. However, unlike independent houses, there is always a limitation of space to setup the RWH (for filtration and reuse) by having additional tanks.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Reminds me of the scientist who has not paid water bills from the past 23 years because he has set up RWH in his residence and is not dependent on borewell / municipal water. The article (in the link) is inspirational for people who want to conserve water.

Link

What a great article, thanks for sharing!

A lot of us think that such solutions are difficult to implement and will not make a difference unless 'some government' does 'something on a large scale'.

Actually, simple steps at an individual level basically will add up. For example, our RWH setup (which I've already said is hardly a model worth following and is not a big deal at all) took all of one afternoon with the help of one plumber and one mason to install. And it's been saving us a year's worth of BWSSB water that would have gone for watering plants for the past 5 years.

Also, some thought towards designing and building for local conditions will go a long way in saving on other resources like electricity. I remember my first office, was designed by a good architect with open spaces on each floor and green areas. It also had well-designed windows. We never had or needed air conditioning even in summer and used to switch on the lights only post 530-6 pm. These days I work in a 'hi-tech', glass-fronted monstrosity better suited for cold western countries where 24x7 air-con and lighting are a must!

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by chandras1

The saddest part is that, the total rainfall received by Bangalore in 2017 and 2018 was above average and in fact one of the best in recorded history and yet hardly 3 months into 2019, one complains of lack of water in bore wells.

The government needs to crack the whip big time into proper rain water harvesting. Unlike many many parts of this country, Bangalore's issue is not about rainfall or large rainfall in a shorter span (ex Chennai). The rainfall in Bangalore is wide spread over months unlike any other metro in India. Its only criminal mismanagement and wastage of a precious resource that has led to a situation like this.

True. There are many places in the state where rainfall is deficient. I wonder why such a place where it rains almost 9 months in a year is being concretised instead of being used for agriculture.

[dailydriver]

Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF), a body with more than 400 apartments complexes as its members, has taken note of the crisis and come up with what it calls the Half Bucket Challenge.


Will this make a difference?

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

...Half Bucket Challenge...
Will this make a difference?

Difference? Absolutely!

Forget compromising on bathwater, if Bangaloreans just stopped hosing down their houses and compounds (and the roads out front) every day, we'd probably save a season's rainfall worth of water without doing anything else. Colossal and criminal waste of water.

I remember being a primary-school kid in Ghaziabad (UP), helping my mother pump and carry buckets of water from the landlord's handpump to our first floor apartment.

Necessity taught me to manage a bath in 4 mugs (about 8-10 ltrs) of water, can still do it today

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I remember being a primary-school kid in Ghaziabad (UP), helping my mother pump and carry buckets of water from the landlord's handpump to our first floor apartment.

Necessity taught me to manage a bath in 4 mugs (about 8-10 ltrs) of water, can still do it today

You just reminded me of my childhood days Chetan

While you did this in UP, my family faced water shortages in Mumbai. We used to fill up buckets and carry those up to our 3rd floor apartment every morning

[Miyata]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Half Bucket Challenge.

Will this make a difference?

Ah, my only indulgence is that long shower that starts with warmer/hotter water and gradually moves to the cold!

I could live without tea/coffee; I could live with one meal a day; but that long shower is my critical highlight of the day!

At one point when I was using the two-bucket technique to wash one of my cars, a chap from the apartment complex walks up to me to pick a fight about how I was wasting water! When he learned that my cars get a wash once in one or two months, while his car enjoys a water bath EVERY SINGLE DAY, he beat a hasty retreat even without so much as an apology.

Apart from RWH, I think it also helps that many apartment complexes in B'lore are turning to waste-water treatment and re-using that for various purposes. I think it's a now legal requirement for any complex over 50-apartments? Good move.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Miyata

At one point when I was using the two-bucket technique to wash one of my cars, a chap from the apartment complex walks up to me to pick a fight about how I was wasting water! When he learned that my cars get a wash once in one or two months, while his car enjoys a water bath EVERY SINGLE DAY, he beat a hasty retreat even without so much as an apology.

I'm every bit a nature-man, I love trees, water and anything organic and I don't need to tell the world that. Its a bit disturbing that, in a democratic country, when someone is obviously doing no crime.. now the public seems to have made it their right (exploiting the evil side of democracy), to point out water wastage to others, H2O police anyone? I've been reminded that when watering the garden area, or when washing the car, by random strangers.

We have consciously done rain-water-harvesting, even though the site area doesn't mandate it and also use solar-heating. According to the meter readers, our bill for both water and power is the lowest of the locality and the car washing is done once a week albeit thoroughly. Wonder why its others business to tell me to conserve water, though.. its disturbing. If I were in your position that man would've limped back.

[KrisTvpm]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

I'm every bit a nature-man, I love trees, water and anything organic and I don't need to tell the world that. <snip>... back.

Reciprocate the sentiment about loving every aspect of nature, ditto here.

Try to reduce water usage for personal purposes & vehicle washing to the max. Generally I make do with a wipe with jopasu duster, then a single 1L spraygun bottle (filled with plain water) to wash my car, followed by a wet wipe + a dry wipe with microfibre cloth and car is clean enough.

Apologies for going OT here, but on a similar note...

Being eco-conscious, for the daily travel to/fro office mostly use public transport/office-cab, and use own vehicle very rarely (just about 3-4 times per month). Frankly it's not fun to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic, though I love driving.

So when one bike-wallah cut aside me and tak-tak on my glass to declare I was wasting his time & space (this for not moving ahead on a traffic-light when it turned amber) and some mumbling about all these big SUV guys hogging the road (whereas mine is not even a big car!), I just felt like getting out and punching the doohickey out of his thick skull

[Miyata]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

its disturbing. If I were in your position that man would've limped back.

A bit off-topic for the thread, hope the moderators won't mind some tadka in the sambhar/dal:

I'm not opposed to force and violence if the need calls for it; However, the occasional verbal joust - on any topic - is like a dance around the camp-fire!

Why throw water (!) on the camp-fire even before one has warmed up to it!?

I find it fascinating to understand how people form opinions, judgments, etc even with whatever knowledge (different degrees of completeness) on a topic. A little verbal joust brings out more of the wisdom and ignorance to spice up the dance around the fire. The "chap" here hopefully has learned to learn more on a situation/topic before going around needling people!

[dailydriver]

On the occasion of World Water Day, we had arranged an awareness rally from Chikkamagaluru to Kottigehara. With the help of various Government and private stakeholders, we held street plays at four crowded places.

At the end of the rally, we walked quite a distance IN the river Hemavathi near Banakal. It was a mixed experience, to be frank. Although we were relieved to see waist height water in March, the narrowing flow area, the obvious encroachments and the pollution shocked us. Talking to local residents and farmers, we realised that the heart of Malenadu might not be too far removed from the crisis that we are talking about in this thread. Its high time we pull up our socks and do all that we can to avert or put off the impending disaster.

[AltoLXI]

GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites have shown the extent of groundwater exploitation in the NW part of India.



This youtube video tells the impending crisis due to over exploitation of groundwater across the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjsThobgq7Q

Climate change is projected to increase the stresses on water supplies, and heated disputes are erupting in places where those with deep wells can keep pumping and leave others with dry wells. Even as satellite measurements have revealed the problem’s severity on a global scale, many regions have failed to adequately address the problem. Aquifers largely remain unmanaged and unregulated, and water that seeped underground over tens of thousands of years is being gradually used up.

[am1m]

New borewell was being dug at a property near my place, they were at it for at least 3 weeks, if not longer! Wonder how deep they had to go. Several 'wake up' signs all over the place. The water crisis is real.

I think it's high time water rates were hiked. Imagine if petrol fell from the skies once in a while (just hypothetical, forget about it being highly inflammable and volatile and all that, just for this example ). Wouldn't everyone rush to harvest it? The problem is that we still pay peanuts for water and so we waste it and don't make any attempt to harvest the ample rainwater we get in Bangalore every year.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by am1m

Wouldn't everyone rush to harvest it? The problem is that we still pay peanuts for water and so we waste it and don't make any attempt to harvest the ample rainwater we get in Bangalore every year.

You know the real issue is in your quoted example itself

The real issue is that not everyone pays for the water that they consume. In case of petrol, everyone pays the same rate. But Water - for some that is free for life, for some that is part of the regular expense and for some, they pay more than what they should for it.


-Sunil