09 Edition
Nov 2021
WOW LEADERS SPEAK
(Here are memorable excerpts from the meeting of ICCW)
The installation of a water metre in a home will undoubtedly be successful. It will help you save money. If you truly want to make it happen, it'll cost you around Rs 3000 for every metre. It will not make sense if you live in a single-family house, but it will be viable if you live in an apartment. One apartment which won the WOW Commendation Award saved 400 crore litres in phase 1 of installation for the flats in their complex. They have two more phases to go and a saving of an additional 800 crore litres that is on the cards.
- Hari Haran, WOW Core Group
Satyagraha was solely practised in India. Despite the fact that it ruled over numerous other nations, Quit India only happened in India. It is critical to recognise the need and to be a type of moment that can be absorbed by such a culture. Although Gandhi was viewed as a teacher by Nelson Mandela, what we do here may not be appropriate in another place. It's critical to create moments that reflect the region's importance. And there are a limited number of things that can be done in the framework of the country. What are these movements, and how do we deal with them?
- Dr Pradeep, Padmashri, IIT-Madras.
Every time we talk about water, we bring up the governments and everyone else. They are spending tens of billions of rupees on fresh water for agricultural and domestic use. It will make a significant impact if they can invest 1% of the money spent on fresh water on waste water purification. The Telangana government, for example, has spent over Rs 100,000 crores to up-pump the waters of Godavari for agriculture purposes. This is the largest project in the world. They are investing a relatively small amount on waste water treatment. If the government's sole goal is to gain votes, this is how they will spend and present themselves. Citizens must become aware that this is what we wish to do.
- Syama Pappu, WWW, Chicago.
WOW MEMBERS SPEAK
Vikas, I congratulate you on your outstanding job of turning waste water into drinking water to these excellent quality parameters. You are a true leader in the Waste to Fresh water movement. This is the first time in India that waste water from one person is used to meet the requirements of another! You deserve kudos for your efforts.
- Murali Anur, WOW Executive Group Member.
We hope that in the not-too-distant future, we will be able to minimise the carbon footprint of water transportation by recycling water for use on-site.
- Vikram Gulecha, WOW Executive Group Member.
Thank you, Murali, Vikram...We are confident that it will be utilised in the same place when people realise the water quality is superior to any borewell or municipal supply.
- Vikas Brahmavar
People will adjust very quickly, either by choice (becoming sustainable) or by need (water shortage). If you could provide the high-level cost for plant set-up for 100 units, space requirements, cost-benefit analysis, etc., that would be great. I'll try to reach out to one or two of these apartment communities.
- Vikram Gulecha
Is it possible to install a system like this for single-family homes?
- V N Saxena
No, sir...viability begins when there is more than 65kl of surplus STP accessible.
- Vikas Brahmavar
Ok. Thank you for confirming. At my house, I just reuse the waste water collected separately from washing machines, bathrooms, and kitchens for flushing toilets. Every month, I reuse about 80,000 litres of such grey water. This greatly minimises the amount of sewage produced.There is still a lot of grey water that gets into the sewage system. I plan to put up a system to filter this extra grey water using Vetiver and Canna plants, so that the treated water may be used to irrigate plants on the patio and balconies, as well as to recharge the groundwater tables.
- V N Saxena
Great sir! As the volume is less it is good. It is great to know of your efforts.
- Vikas Brahmavar
IIT Madras, in partnership with the MIT Risk Lab, has launched a crowd-sourced data gathering programme for flood levels in Chennai. To report flooding in your neighbourhood, please follow the directions in the PDF given. Your report will assist the team in analysing flood and rainfall trends in Chennai and recommending remedial actions that the government may take.
- B S Mamatha, WOW Executive Group
Air to water system
If we are making water from air, what happens to pollutants? When we can condense moisture in air to water, can't we condense or remove the polluting elements from air and recycle it.
- B S Mamatha, WOW Executive Group
It's happening already. We have installed a CO2 absorbing machine in a few locations. One at town hall circle in the City.
- Vikram Gulecha, WOW Exec Group
What happens to the moisture in the air while removing pollutants?
- B S Mamatha, WOW Exec Group
It is sent back to the environment.
- Vikram Gulecha, WOW Exec Group
Why can't that be stored as water? Sending back chemically treated moisture to the atmosphere?
- B S Mamatha, WOW Exec Group
It's an expensive process. Can cost close to Rs 15-20 per litre of water so produced.
- Vikram Gulecha, WOW Exec Group
Even home AC’s are fitted with evaporators. Instead water can be routed to sump
- Neel Mathews, WOW Exec Group
Water in vapour form is available in the atmosphere. That is nature's natural balance. When you remove moisture then your air will become very dry and will lead to a lot of discomfort. Absolutely dry air is required only in certain areas where certain critical jobs have to be done. Even when you are sitting in an air conditioned room, you start feeling the discomfort because the air you breathe is dry and your start losing water from your body without sweating
- V N Saxena, WOW Exec Group
Stubble burning in farms….
One more question regarding stubble burning. We have digesters to convert waste into compost. Can't we spray something on the stubble to convert them into compost in the field. GOI is planning to disperse pesticides by Drone (will be green in colour ) and can take 350 kg of payload. They have separate departments. Why can't we use some Bio Enzymes to stop burning? Enzymes made similar to what locusts or any other pest or animals have in them.
- B S Mamatha, WOW Exec Group
Bengaluru - The wet city
All of this is wasted ...
- Vijayraj Shishodya, WOW Exec Group Member
Hope the water table improves in the months to come or dire need of water gets postponed by a year!!
- Suresh Pai, Chairman, WOW Apartments Action Group
No sir, all roads, pavements, school playgrounds .. every space is concreted. And the intensity of rainfall was high . So run off is necessarily high.
- Vijayraj Shishodya, WOW Exec Group Member
At Saras apartments, we collected in October alone about 6 lakh litres of water - treated and used for potable purpose by mixing with borewell water. Suresh Pai, WOW Exec Group Member I feel so bad at such tremendous waste of water. In fact for the first time in life, I feel utterly helpless. The people who give lectures on environment and water saving, don’t practice. They have themselves not done such simple rainwater harvesting. I think companies should start questioning employees of the measures taken by them to save the environment before appraisal.
- B S Mamatha, WOW Exec Group Member
Leaders should wear such shoes first! Usually heavy rains and cold could be followed by heavy Sun and drought. May it not happen!
- Neel Mathews
Bangalore is the only city in India which does not supply water to citizens daily or no supply at all. We do not have Cauvery supply through pipes laid 4 years back . Overhead tank not yet constructed is the reply by BWSSB . So we have given up our follow up. If rain water is treated and supplied it can meet 70% of Bangalore water needs as per CAG report . Still the government wants to bring water from far away places when a solution is locally available !
- Suresh Pai
You get 2 mins of the water required for Bangalore only in rains. Presently we are supplying around 1250 MLD from cauvery. And around 500 ML D from groundwater. If Rainwater is collected, recharged and reused . Stored we can give 3000 MLD of water for 365 days.
- Vijayraj Shishodya
Yes. Then why is the government not doing this ?
- Suresh Pai
The Government does not understand this or doesn't want to understand. It only wants big ticket projects, not any of this.
- Vijayraj Shishodya
Waste to Wealth Movement
These are extracts of conversations of WOW members in the Core Executive Group. Add your comments, views
S C I E N T I S T S W A R N O F A C U T E
W A T E R S H O R T A G E I N B E N G A L U R U
Climate and socio-economic specialists expressed significant alarm on Thursday about the results of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, predicting that Bengaluru could experience severe drinking water shortages in the coming years. Professor Krishna Raj spoke at a webinar titled 'Responding to Climate Change: What Should Karnataka and India Do?' hosted by the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Centre of Economic Studies and Policy, ISEC, about the issue of a high-carbon economy that has resulted in a one- degree Celsius rise in temperature, costing around 5% of GDP.
H O W T O R E S O L V E K A R N A T A K A W A T E R C R I S I S
G Parameshwara, the state's deputy chief minister, made a desperate recommendation at the height of Karnataka's water crisis. To deal with the water situation, he said the government was considering a five-year restriction on the construction of new residential complexes in Bengaluru. Experts disagree on whether building or population limitations are the most effective method to handle the problem. Is there an easier method to improve water conservation?
24% A R E A S I N B E N G A L U R U G E T H A R D W A T E R - Should you be worried?
Modernization has both advantages and disadvantages. We tend to overlook the basic essentials of existence in our daily efforts to make our lives simpler. We come across things that make life easier, yet we forget that natural resources are disappearing on a daily basis. Bengaluru, India's IT capital, is a prime example of this. Hard water is a serious problem in this gorgeous cosmopolitan southern centre. According to a recent report, hard water is found in 24 percent of Bengaluru neighbourhoods. After a study of 1423 residences in Bengaluru, the issue of hard water in Bangalore was brought to light. The maximum amount of hardness allowed in drinking water is 200 mg per litre, yet these homes receive water with a hardness level of greater than 200 mg per litre.
COMMENDATION AWARDS
Alt. Tech Foundation is a not-for-profit, for-industry Foundation for
(i) producing sustainability managers and leaders,
(ii) providing green management skill sets,
(iii) hosting city-wide campaigns for citizen collective action to save water & energy,
(iv) purposing research for city infrastructure.
WOW Action Forum is a globally pioneering effort for bringing collective private action to save very large quantities of water at apartments, at Industry, at tech parks, or hotels and hospitals or malls and other such buildings. The 2021 mission is set to save 1000 Cr lites with community-led action. This alone will bring a saving of 236 Cr in electricity bills for the city, and a reduction in carbon emission of nearly 300,000 tonnes equivalent.