Start harvesting rain water this monsoon

One litre of milk requires five litres of water during processing in a dairy. 1kg of sugar equals 2500 litres of water. All these and more were discussed in this BWSSB's session on rain water harvesting.

There has been a sudden interest in this whole idea – before I got to wonder why – I read somewhere that BBMP has made rain water harvesting compulsory. I am glad I was able to attend this session on Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) by A R Shivakumar, Executive Secretary and Principal Investigator – RWH, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST). This was held at Mantri Classic Hall, ST Bed on May 15th.  Around 30 people attended the session.

It was a very good session and BWSSB is willing to conduct such sessions on request. All you need to do is go to your nearest BWSSB office and request for the same.

I made an attempt to jot down a few points that interested me.

1) World Health Organisation (WHO) has the estimate of water required per capita as 135 litres but BWSSB is able to provide only 95 litres per capita. Shivakumar started the session by asking everyone to guess one’s water consumption.

Shivakumar gave the example of milk alone. He said one litre of milk requires five litres of water during processing in a dairy. The plastic packing and transport were not even talked about. The cow that gives 1 litre of milk needs to be fed 35 litres of water. 1kg of sugar equals 2500 litres of water!

BWSSB’s rain water harvesting helpline number- (080) 23348840

2) There used to be 262 lakes in Bangalore forming an excellent system with rain water pouring in the center and filling the lakes up. We now have only 82 left, mostly polluted or eaten up by weeds. See this video on one such lake. 

He said that one needn’t dishearten as all hope is not lost – Bangalore is a city with good rainfall pattern with an average touching around 1000mm. All we need to is harvest this rain water. He also said that we have fresh clean water coming from the skies and we just let it flow back into oceans within a few hours of the rain – much dirtier. With the concrete roads and little planning for seepage, the ground water tables will only suffer more. Ground water is a public property and people are misusing it, he added.

A screenshot of KSCST’s slideshow on rain water harvesting. Credit: Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST).

3) One of the best examples he gave was about – Sourabha. Since 1995 the entire house needs including potable water is met out of rainwater.

4) In rural areas people pay Rs 4 for one pot of water, while BWSSB brings water to your door step each day at Rs 6 for 1000 liters. The poor are paying much higher than the rich.

The session was filled with such facts and I would recommend it be organised in all the places possible.

At the end of the session, one gentleman stood up and told that their apartment should be exempted from this rule as it would not make much sense to harvest water in his apartment. The number of families can’t really be supported with the limited roof area and the setup would cost them Rs 4 lakhs.

Shivakumar overruled his suggestion by asking him to do the water consumption calculation per family in apartments and compare it to an independent house.

Individuals and institutions can contact Rainwater Harvesting Cell at Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) for technical advice, planning and project implementation. Check out this very impressive list with successful examples. You can see the slideshow on rain water harvesting here.

We have a community created for the people in rain water harvesting in Bangalore. Please join the same for any discussions.

Let’s harvest some rain this monsoon!  ⊕

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Opinion: Why climate action must recognise and include India’s informal workers

As COP29 discusses ways to mitigate the climate crisis, India must address the adversities faced by informal workers and chalk out plans.

The ongoing COP29 conference in Baku, is a pivotal moment in climate action, focusing on global cooperation to limit warming to 1.5°C. Key priorities include mobilising financial resources for developing countries to submit ambitious climate plans (NDCs) by 2025 and continuing support through the Fund for Loss and Damage (FRLD) established at COP28. COP29 also aims to strengthen adaptation efforts by setting finance-backed targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation.  While COP29 primarily focuses on international climate initiatives, India must address pressing domestic issues. One key group often overlooked is informal workers in Indian cities. Over 80% of India’s urban…

Similar Story

Status check: Key concerns remain as Chennai moves ahead with WTE plans

Greater Chennai Corporation's tender for the Waste-To-Energy plant is at the final stage; Here is what we know about the bidders

17,422 metric tonnes per day — that's the staggering amount of trash the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will generate in 30 years. Currently, Chennai produces 6,143 metric tonnes of waste daily, which adds to the growing piles in Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dump yards. Like many other major cities, GCC is struggling to find a sustainable solution for waste management and has proposed a Waste-To-Energy (WTE) plant. However, the experiences of cities like Delhi are testimony to the significant environmental and health impacts of WTE plants. A recent The New York Times investigative report on the Delhi WTE reveals: "The government…