Water Wise

Water – Wise and Otherwise

In India, there are more households with a television than piped water supply.

With just 4% of Earth’s fresh water, India has 16% of the global population. Water ranks second after oxygen for living beings to survive.

3.30 crore people lack access to water. 60 crore people deal with extreme water shortage trudging many miles for a bucket of potable water. 42% of India’s land is facing drought.

91 reservoirs across India store 162 billion cum; in March 2019, storage levels dropped to <50%. Monsoons are a couple of months away. If it fails, 25% more villages will be drought hit. 13 major reservoirs across India now have 32% lesser water stored than in 2017-18.

Then there’s agriculture, which, by estimates, accounts for 90% of India’s fresh water usage; but in March’18, alarmingly, Gujarat stopped supply of irrigation water from a major dam to ensure that there was enough for drinking. 

In May’18, resorts in Shimla were shut for a week due to water shortage and tourists were forced to leave, before water arrived in tankers.

There has been a 61% decline in the country’s water levels from 2007 to 2017. Rajendra Singh, a well-known water conservationist nicknamed “India’s waterman,” has said that over 70% of the country’s groundwater is “overdraft”, implying more water is consumed than replenished.

Simply put, there’s too much demand and not enough supply; climate change, precipitated by unethical human actions, is a crucial factor in the water crisis. Scorching summers and shortened winters resulted in reduced snow cover and retreating Himalayan glaciers — the ice melt from these feeds the country’s northern rivers.

Add to that, erratic monsoons which threaten to disrupt long-established crop patterns is a recipe for disaster; thousands of lakes dried out not only due to failing rains, but also due to rampant encroachments cutting off streams that feed them, and pollution from homes / industries that choke them.

Anupam Mishra a modest knowledgeable environmentalist advocates respect for water and concerted widespread efforts for recharging groundwater, using simple traditional techniques. 

The Earth needs our support.

What we, common people, can do?

While concerted efforts are on to influence various state governments and the central government to act fast on rivers' rejuvenation, lakes' restoration and the like, we as individuals can also make a difference. 

-       Plug the leaks – a drippy tap can drain ~50 liters of water in a day. Install efficient models, or retrofit with aerators that regulate supply by more than 50%.

-      Collect rainwater – for reuse; rainwater can be used for all domestic needs. If you can afford re-plumbing, grey water recycling is best for flushing, car wash, and gardens; if you are a user of non-detergent based toiletries, recycling is simpler, avoiding complex recycling systems. Replenish groundwater if possible, influence your local communities to recharge the earth.

-      Smart wastewater-reuse – there’s nary a home without an RO purifier. Every liter of ‘pure’ water drains ~3 liters of fresh water. Collect the 30% ‘wasted’ water in a tank and use for household purposes (mopping, gardening, washing utensils, cars and sports shoes, flushing toilets, cleaning bathrooms and storage tanks, pre-rinsing laundry, etc.

-      Avoid showers – switch to bucket baths. An ordinary shower-head takes up ~100 liters in 10 minutes, while a bucket holds 20 liters. Bathtubs are worse, with capacities upto 500 liters.

-      Frugal carwashes – once in 10 days or a fortnight depending on your usage; a 25 liter bucket is sensible, than a hose that drains ~200 liters in a 20 minute routine.

-     Water plants early morning or late evening. Keep a schedule, water thrice a fortnight. Water lawns once a week, even if browned, they’ll revive in rains. Large trees can survive a month.

-     Hygiene can be maintained with a fraction of quantity we normally use. Brushing & Shaving, with a running tap needs 5 liters, a closed tap - just 1 liter; toilet flushing system – 20 liters, by a bucket – 5 liters. Fully automatic washing machines take upto 150 liters per cycle; but if you can use a bucket 80 liters are saved; wash only full loads.

-     Carry your water – three liters of freshwater is used to produce one liter potable water in a bottle, not to mention of the single-use-plastic-waste generated.

While we learn, we can educate at least 10 others. Let’s practice and spread the word for water-efficiency.  

Every drop counts, let our actions make a difference!

I am tempted to add this picture of a public artifact placed near Agara Lake near HSR Layout, Bangalore.
This was made by a local artist Mr. John Devraj.
The wise words sculpted on the obelisk reads:
"This World is not what we have inherited from our ancestors, but what we have borrowed from our children"