In the 1970s the city of Bengaluru boasted of having around 300 lakes but over the years, the rapid urbanization process led to encroachment of these lakes on a large scale. The land where the lakes existed decades ago now has been replaced by urban infrastructure due to which you can find very few lakes in the city today.
Residents Of Maa Vrindavan Apartment Setting Example
Karnataka has already been predicted to have a drought condition this year. Deficient waterfall coupled with fast-eroding water bodies has led to an acute shortage in drinking water in the IT City of India in the last few years.
In the absence of adequate natural water resources, the residents have become more dependent on the water tankers for fulfilling their daily needs.
Smart residents of Bengaluru have already realized the significance of water conservation and many groups and individuals are trying in their own way to either revise the dying lakes or take steps to recharge the water tables and groundwater in Bengaluru.
The residents of Maa Brindavan apartment in Bengaluru are setting up an example of how to execute the process of water conservation in such a dire situation.
Adhinarayana Rao Velpula, the resident of Whitefield, Bengaluru-located apartment is a water crusader who started this movement that is helping the apartment save around 500 liters per day.
Saving Water From RO Filters
While speaking to media Adhinarayana said, “In our apartment complex, there are 46 flats. Through borewell, we get 500 liters of water daily, which is obviously insufficient for all the residents. Like other Bengalureans, we would rely on water tankers that charge us Rs 600 for 3,500 liters of water. The cost of water tanks is skyrocketing because of the demand and supply gap.”
To find a solution to this problem, Adhinarayana sent a message on March 23 on the WhatsApp group of the apartment. Through the message, he requested the residents to avoid washing their cars during May and April month because a single car wash requires 10 liters of water at least.
According to Adhinarayana, “While some rejected the proposal, others agreed to wash their cars on alternate days. But to me, 10 liters of water being used just for cleaning was huge. Together, we brainstormed, and one of the residents Manju suggested to collect rejected RO (Reverse Osmosis) water and use it for non-drinking purposes.”
While filtering a lot of water is wasted during the purification process in RO filters. Residents started collecting this water from these RO filters in a bucket and kept it outside their homes for using it for non-drinking purposes. Later on, the residents of the Maa Brindavan apartment got a big drum for water collection and placed it near the parking lot.
The housekeeping staff was entrusted with the responsibility of collecting the water from each flat and putting it in the drum. In this way, the residents are saving 500 liters of water every day. This water is now used for cleaning the parking lot and washing cars.
Inspiring For More…
Apart from saving water in this way, the Maa Brindavana Apartment residents found another innovative way of conserving water by installing a water saving aerator or an adaptor for reducing the water flow in the tap.
Generally, without an aerator the water discharged through the tap is around six liters per minute whereas, with aerator, the water discharged is around three liters per minute.
More innovative and simple ways can be tried to conserve water similar to the one adopted by the residents of Maa Brindavan apartment in Bengaluru.
