Quiz

Water Quiz In our quest to underline the importance of saving water for human sustenance and emphasise the advantages of rainwater harvesting and treatment procedures, PropertyPlus has been bringing out a weekly column ‘Waterwise.’ The aim is to create awareness on the reward and compensation that one draws out of prudent water uses. Our ‘Water Quiz’ will be yet another attempt to inform and educate you on the facts and data related to water. We do hope our efforts help in increasing your general knowledge which would also help you realise the overriding significance the subject draws in the present scenario, where increased population and buildings throw additional demands on saving the ‘elixir of life.’

Additionally, several right answers in our questions that require detailed explanations would be elucidated by our columnist, S. Vishwanath, for giving you a better perspective of the subject and making you understand the core issues involved.

Happy quizzing!

1) In an average year how much rain does Bangalore receive, approximately? a) 200 mm.

b) 600 mm.

c) 900 mm.

2) This means that a 30 x 50 feet site in a year receives: a) 10,000 litres of rainwater.

b) 40,000 litres of rainwater.

c) 1,35,000 litres of rainwater.

3) The water tariff for industries in Bangalore is the highest in India. It is: a) Rs. 100 a kilo-litre.

b) Rs 60 a kilo-litre.

c) Rs 10 a kilo-litre.

4) A kilo-litre is a) 100 litres of water.

b) 1 million litres of water.

c) 1,000 litres of water.

5) Rajasthan has the largest drought-prone area in India. The second largest is: a) Tamil Nadu.

b) Gujarat.

c) Karnataka.

6) Most villages in Karnataka depend on groundwater. The extent of dependence is close to a) 52 %

b) 75%

c) 92%

7) A fast dripping tap leaks how many litres in a day? 5 litres

10 litres

80 litres

ANSWERS: 1-c; 2-c; 3-b; 4-c; 5-c; 6-c;7-c

(Compiled by S. Vishwanath, www.rainwaterclub.org; www.arghyam.org; www.indiawaterportal.org; www.ircsa.org; www.voicesfromthewaters.com)

Ka- Sanskrit root meaning water

WATER WISE

Preserve the lifeline S. VISHWANATH

The Sanskrit ‘Ka’ meaning ‘water’ is the language root for both the Arkavathy and the Cauvery

— Photo: M. Moorthy

Save it: The Cauvery in all its splendour at sunset. The Jamuna for Delhi, the Manjira and Krishna for Hyderabad, the Cauvery and the Krishna for Chennai and the Arkavathy and the Cauvery for Bangalore — rivers are the lifeline for our cities.

The Sanskrit ‘Ka’ meaning water is the language root for both the Arkavathy and the Cauvery. It is important therefore for us to treat our rivers with respect. Each individual’s action counts…be it consuming less water, ensurin g wastewater treatment, managing garbage correctly and planting and taking care of trees and forests in the catchment of our rivers.

Primary source

It rains on the land and rain is the primary source of water. The forests hold the water and release it slowly, ensuring that the soil does not run off and erode and also choke up water bodies. The rivers run from the waters they receive from the surface of the land, but very importantly from the waters that they receive from the base flows below the ground and which appear as springs or feed the channels directly. We take the water from the rivers for our use but we need to return it in the same quality at which we took it.

How would it be if every city were to release its wastewater upstream and draw its fresh water requirement downstream of the release point of wastewater? Would we be more ecologically responsible?

It is time for all of us to ensure that the precious resource called water is well understood, distributed equally to all and taken care of as a precious gift of nature. For that we need to become water literate. And water literacy — knowing where the water we use comes from and taking responsibility for its wise use and release back to nature after use — is the first step towards water wisdom.

Pouring rain

WATER WISE

How do we preserve rain? S. VISHWANATH

City centres and slightly downwind areas receive 15 per cent more rain than the suburbs

— Photo: G. Moorthy

GET WISER: Being water wise is to understand that rain, the primary source of all water, has to be stored or recharged judiciously While in the countryside rain is a joyful event, in a city it is met with grumbles because it disrupts plans for an evening out or causes floods on the streets or causes power breakdowns. Interestingly, city centres and slightly downwind areas receive up to 15 per cent more rain than the suburbs. It rains more in the city because of the heat island effect — the concrete and asphalt capturing and radiating heat. The intensity of the rainfall also seems to be more in the city.

All the more reason for us to be prepared and to take steps to convert what we perceive to be a nuisance into a resource. The first step is to calculate the rain that falls and the number of rainy days. A rainy day or a wet day is when it rains more than 2.50 mm. This information is available on the India Meteorological Department website and Indiawater.org portal.

The next step is to calculate or find out your plot area and roof area. The next step is to find out the monthly average rainfall. Finally make the choice of filtering rainwater from the rooftop and storing it in a sump. A sump of 6,000 litres is ideal for a 100 square metre roof area but even 2,000 litres of storage will do. Pick the overflow and lead it into a recharge well. Do the same with the plot runoff. A recharge well is typically three ft. in diameter and about 20 ft. deep.

Being water wise is to understand that rain in a city is a blessing to be carefully stored. It does not matter how much it rains, it matters more what we do with the rain.

Aerobic Rice - Part Deux

New ‘aerobic rice’ by Jan From Kalyan Ray, DH News Service, New Delhi: A new rice variety that can thrive on less than half of water needed for existing varieties is expected to be released in Karnataka for commercial cultivation by January, 2009. And what may be an additional plus point, this rice line does not contribute much towards global warming unlike the regular rice varieties. The new rice variety called “aerobic rice” has been developed by plant breeders at the University of Agricultural Sciences(UAS) in Bangalore. Begun as part of an all-India project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR), it has completed an independent trial for three years. However, since entering into the central trial is the official requirement for a state-wide release, the UAS is trying to make a beginning with a release in the dry zones of Karnataka early next year. “I am proceeding with release formalities at the UAS, Bangalore starting January, 2009. That is the earliest we can do it. Since water is a scare resource, we need to show results at the earliest,” Dr H E Shashidhar, the developer of aerobic rice, told Deccan Herald. mooter_page_section=”AdUnit2″; Around the same time, Raipur’s Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya may also release the line for the farmers in Chhattishgarh. Due to their low water use efficiency, the existing rice varieties need 3,000 to 5,000 litres of water to produce one kg of grain. Usage of excess water also reduces the efficiency of the fertiliser. On the contrary, the new line’s water requirement has been cut down by 40-50 per cent, making it suitable for cultivation in the state’s drought-prone areas. Moreover, because of the absence of standing water for days, it does not generate the green house gas methane, which is one of the major contributors to global warming. Normally, methane is produced during irrigated rice cultivation. “Because of standing water in paddy fields, soil organic matter is decomposed in an anaerobic (without oxygen) processes generating methane,” said Dr Shashidhar, who is currently working in Barwale Foundation in Hyderabad. As there will be no such decomposition during the cultivation of this line, it is called aerobic rice. He claims that with the rice root running almost three times deeper, there would be better water absorption and air circulation. While the new variety gave a yield of about 55 quintals per hectare, which is par with the regular varieties, it becomes ready for harvesting between 120 and 130 days. The UAS has completed trials at six locations between 2005 and 2007 in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Manila. Trials took place at Bangalore, Raipur, Cuttack, Faizabad, Coimbatore and Hazaribagh.

Water management-Lessons from Singapore

WATER WISE

Lessons from Singapore

S. VISWANATH

How Singapore manages its water requirement is a lesson for all urban areas in India

Good show: A bottle of recycled water

Being an island nation, Singapore’s water resources, like many other resources, tend to be limited. With a population of 3.80 million and a land area of 699 square kilometres, it is officially a ‘water stressed’ nation as it has less than 1,000 cubic metres per person per year as water availability.

Its average rainfall of 2400 mm per year gives its only internal fresh water resource and it imports 40 per cent of its water needs from neighbouring Malaysia. How Singapore manages its water requirement is a lesson for all urban areas in India.
The 4 taps strategy

The key to its water management is what it calls the “4 taps water strategy.” The taps include its own catchment management and water harvesting in reservoirs; buying water from Johore, Malaysia; desalination plants to supply water; and recycling wastewater through its ambitious and innovative NEWater plants.

The first tap is to harvest rainwater which falls on its land and to store it in reservoirs. Approximately 60 per cent of Singapore is now a catchment for its own water reservoirs.

Whereas previously most rainwater would flow into the sea, now it is channelised to be collected in 14 reservoirs kept away from sea waters, treated and supplied back to the city. While previously stormwater channels were simply concrete drains designed to flush out the heavy downpour, they are now being treated ecologically to encourage softer landscapes, flora and fauna and to increase the biological propensity which natural rivers have as compared to concrete drains.

The entire 32 rivers, 7000 kilometres of canals and drains will slowly be restored ecologically, starting with the Singapore and Kallang rivers. The goal is to make it possible for fish to be back in these rivers. By the end of 2009, 17 reservoirs will be in place and nearly 70 per cent of the city will become the catchment for these reservoirs.

The second tap is water brought from Malaysia which contributes currently to 40 per cent of its requirements.

Two agreements for water purchase signed in the 1960s have tended to become contentious at times but also have withheld all stresses and strains and never has Malaysia stopped water supply to Singapore. One of the agreements will come up for renewal in 2011 and the other in 2061. With deft diplomacy and as a commitment to good neighbourly relations Singapore will continue to source water from Malaysia.

In the meantime it has also signed an agreement with its other neighbour, Indonesia, to purchase water from it in the future.

The third tap is recycled sewage water called NEWwater. Three wastewater recycling plants recycle close to 90 million litres per day. This recycled water is put back in the fresh water reservoirs, treated further and supplied back to the city for all its requirements.

Treated wastewater is put through a further three-step process of membrane-based ultra filtration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet treatment before being sent to reservoirs. Around 20,000 tests were conducted before the water was found fit for consumption.

It is gradually being integrated into the city’s water requirements through first for non-potable purpose use and also through its blending with reservoirs for potable water use. Bottled NEWater is also available in supermarkets for consumption to assure consumers of safety and taste.

The fourth tap is desalination. The first desalination plant was commissioned in 2005 with a capacity to produce 136 million litres of desalinated water per day which is about 10 per cent of water requirements. By 2011 desalination will provide 400 million litres of water per day or roughly 30 per cent of Singapore’s water requirement.
Towards self-sufficiency

With a water demand of around 1,400 million litres per day and limited natural resource, Singapore has focused on multiple sourcing of water including rainwater harvesting, purchasing water, recycling treated sewage water and desalination. Through appropriate water tariff, water demand per capita has been held at 163 litres per person per day.

Every household is connected to the sewage network and wastewater is treated to potable standards. It is moving more and more towards self-sufficiency with an ecological and technological approach towards water management.

In future times, urban areas in India will also need political skills of managing water, a professional managerial approach to make technological choice, an ecological approach to rivers, streams, lakes and ground water to maintain water quality and a vision of self sufficiency. Only then will water wisdom prevail and water for all become a reality.

Water- Getting the prices right

WATER WISE

WATER-GETTING THE PRICE RIGHT

S.Vishwanath

www.rainwaterclub.org

www.arghyam.org

For long, economists have held the view that if getting the prices right is crucial to the sustainable delivery of piped water to households in urban areas.

For the customer the correct price of water ensures access to clean water at an affordable price but also signals that excess consumption has a penalty and therefore he is dissuaded from over consumption.

For the institution it means the ability to maintain the system for efficient delivery of water as well as to be able to invest for expansion of services.

Increasing block tariff: Many cities charge for water and include it as part of the property tax. This is a very indirect way of recovering revenue. Others charge a flat rate based on the dimension of the connecting pipe to the household. Say for example Rs 45/- per month for a 3/4inch pipe connection and Rs 30/- a month for a half inch pipe connection. This too is an arbitrary method of collecting water revenues.

There is increasing consensus however that an increasing block tariff makes the most sense. This is what cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad use for their water charges.

Bangalore’s tariff for water looks like this

DOMESTIC

0- 8000 litres Rs 6.00 per Kilo litre

8001-25000 litres Rs 9.00 per kilo litre

25,001-50,000 litres Rs 15.00 per kilo litre

50,001- 75,000 litres Rs 30.00 per kilo litre

And so on

There is a separate charge for NON-DOMESTIC consumption on an increasing block tariff too and for INDUSTRIAL consumption on a flat basis.

These city utilities therefore try to provide access to basic water requirement at affordable prices but ask heavier consumers to pay more. The non-domestic and industrial connections actually cross subsidize the domestic consumers bringing in an element of social justice.

Metering: For historical reasons, Bangalore has had an effective metering system thanks to farsighted decision makers, almost since water supply started to be provided to the city from Thippagondanahalli reservoir in 1932 and therefore is able to levy an effective volumetric charge. Without metering and a system of reading and recording the meters it is impossible to levy an increasing block tariff and to have any meaningful method of charging for water.

Production cost: While typically the price of water should depend on the long run marginal cost i.e. the cost of obtaining the next unit of water for consumption, knowing the production cost of water is important. On this will depend the pricing of water.

The Bangalore water utility charges a flat Rs 15 /- on the first 25 kilolitre of water as a sanitary charge. It goes to 15% of the water bill if the consumption of water is over 25 kilolitres and 20% of the bill if it is over 50 kilolitre. It is usually argued that the true cost of water is captured when it is returned to nature at the same quality at which it was appropriated. Obviously city utilities are yet to get there but ill do so through a system of selling tertiary treated water and recovering costs of sewage treatment through this value.

Lessons for smaller properties: Apartments and layouts have to manage with multiple sources of water. Most probably they will source water from the mainline, from bore wells, from private tankers, bottled water and even recycled water. There are lessons in water management that they will have to pick up if they have to manage conflicts. For one they will have to meter all individual connections so that each flat or each site is charged according to its consumption and not in an arbitrary fashion.

Associations will also need to know the combined cost of the waters they source. Metering the bore well and knowing the energy and maintenance cost of the water system will help. Private water tankers will have to be clearly measured volumetrically to understand the right costs incurred per kilolitre.

Based on the sewage treatment plant setup costs of sewage treatment will have to be calculated and recovered from the water consumed by each individual connection.

Slowly but surely water managers will need to come into play to ensure that a systematic and structured approach is adopted to ensure sustainability, equity and fairness in charging for water and making sure it is available to all when required.

By knowing the costs involved from various sources such as bore wells or private tankers optimization exercises can be undertaken to ensure lowest water and sewage bills.

As water gets to be an increasingly scarce resource, better management practice is the only option for continued and sustainable availability. Getting the price right is one aspect of water wisdom.

Film festival on water 2008 - Voices from the waters

Voices from the Waters 2008

3^rd International Film Festival on Water

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Bangalore Film Society, Arghyam, Svaraj- Society for Voluntary Action Revitalization and Justice, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College, USA (FLEFF) Mountainfilm in Telluride, USA, Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore and Water Journeys - Campaign for Fundamental Right to Water are organizing the third International ‘Voices from the Waters’- the biggest international film festival on water in September 2008 following on the footsteps of the hugely popular and successful events in 2005 and 2007. We deeply appreciate your collaboration in this.

This consortium of committed organizations active in water issues  are inviting you to be part of this festival by contributing short, documentary, animation and feature films (DVD format only) with English subtitles on water and related issues. Also include a photograph and CV of the film-maker, a minimum of three film stills and a short synopsis of the film.  You are also most welcome to send us photographs for exhibition at the festival.

The first edition of ‘Voices from the Waters’ was held in April 2005 in collaboration with Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, while the second was held in June 2007 in Bangalore, India by a consortium of organizations. With the overwhelming success and the positive responses to the festival from across the globe and the urgency of the water issue to a planet headed towards catastrophe, ‘Voices from the Waters’ is being organized as an annual event of images and sounds, of films, songs, photo and art exhibitions, lectures and conferences, a platform for diverse voices – free as water as nature intended it to be.

If you have a film under the following categories:

1.      Water Scarcity,

2.      The Dams and the Displaced,

3.      Water Harvest,

4.      Water Struggles/conflicts,

5.      Floods and Droughts,

6.      Global Warming and Climate Change,

7.      Impact of Deforestation on Water Bodies and

8.       Water and Life,

you should consider sending it to us  so that we may place them in the festival.  All entries will be acknowledged. ‘Voices from the Waters’ is a public awareness program and while there is no entry fee for the festival, the final short-list for the festival will be decided from the entries by a committee comprised of eminent film-makers, film critics and social activists. This is also conceived as a traveling film festival.

Deadline for entries is 30^th April, 2008 .                    

For more information, contact us at the address below.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

The organizing committee

If there is magic on this planet it is contained in water

- Loran Eisley

Contact:-

Georgekutty A.L.

Secretary, Bangalore Film Society,

33/1-9, Thyagaraja Layout, Jai Bharath Nagar, MS Nagar P.O.,

Bangalore- 560 033. Karnataka, India

Tel: 91- 80- 25493705

Email: bangalorefilmsociety@gmail.com , waterjourneys@rediffmail.com

Groundwater banking

With depleting ground water table, water banks are a dire need

Artificial storage and recovery is what every city needs, says S.Vishwanath

Precious: Storing water also recharges aquifers

Groundwater in India is a crucial resource and indeed the very lifeline of our water needs. In a city like Bangalore anywhere between 30 to 50 per cent of the water needs may be coming from groundwater.On the one hand, groundwater tables are falling and borewells are being sunk to depths of 1,250 feet and more. On the other hand, stormwater floods city streets and wastewater flows in storm drains. Groundwater is not being adequately replenished nor is the potential that the ground offers to store water being utilised.

Artificial storage and recovery (ASR) or managed aquifer recharge is a method by which water banks are created using rainwater, stormwater and treated wastewater and this water is drawn in times of need. This essentially makes use of the potential of the ground to store and to a certain extent treat water, preventing evaporation losses.

Hydro-geology Developing a good understanding of the hydro-geology of a place and understanding the nature of the soil and rock is crucial. We must know, for example, the porosity of the soil, the transmissivity, hydraulic conductivity and storage. The thickness, depth and geographical extant of aquifers need to be understood.

The lithology of aquifers also need to be determined. In simple words, the capacity of the ground to absorb, retain and return water needs to be determined.

Rooftop rainwater is ideal because it tends to be the cleanest. If a simple first rain separation is done and the rainwater filtered, it is excellent for artificial recharge. Stormwater running in properly managed catchments without pollution can also be used.

Filters These are usually held in retention ponds and allowed to seep into the ground. If stormwater is to be cleaned, sand filters and wetlands can be designed to remove physical turbidity. The traditional tanks were great recharge structures when they functioned as percolation tanks.

Sewage water, if treated to the adequate levels, can also be used for artificial storage and recovery. In Cubbon Park and Lalbagh in Bangalore, tertiary treatment plants have been set up which are using membranes to treat sewage to high levels.

If the salts, nitrates and phosphates can be removed the water will be ideal for storage. In fact the presence of large open spaces and aquifers nearby provides an excellent opportunity for such controlled experiments.

A limited confined aquifer is ideal. However, the process of ASR can be done in property which have their own sewage treatment plants and a recharge zone.

Failed borewells and open wells provide opportunities for artificial recharge but aquifer characteristics may prevent controlled access to the water so recharged. It is to be understood that the unit of ASR is determined by hydro-geological boundaries rather than surface boundaries.

Potential zones City-level attempts or even neighbourhood-level attempts centered around a surface water body is possible. Each surface water body is topographically located at the lowest point. Sewage flows and stormwater flows are also in this direction.

With a treatment plant located close-by, it should be possible to pick both stormwater and treated sewage water for ASR. In a city all surface water bodies are potential zones for ASR.

Conventionally, treated wastewater has been immediately used for non-potable purpose such as toilet flushing or watering landscapes. Especially during the rainy season the zero discharge policy enforced by the State Pollution Control Boards leads to excess treated wastewater which is difficult to manage.

In such circumstances it is better for the treated wastewater to be of such high quality that it is possible to use the aquifer as a bank to store it and then to use it later during times of need.

A holistic policy of understanding rainwater, surface water and groundwater along with robust knowledge of treated wastewater will enable better sustainable practices to be put in place for water use.

New systems such as high level treatment of sewage and ASR will be the future of better water management and in pursuing the science behind this lies water wisdom for our cities.

Tears in rain - time to die

Blade Runner has been my all time favorite movie, ever since I walked in to Ganesha talkies in Mysore , paid Rs 1.60/- and watched Vangelis, Harrison Ford and above all Rutger Hauer - the Dutch actor- take off in bleak L.A. with rain, rain and more rain .

I´ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe, Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion I watched C-Beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate All those… moments… will be lost in time Like tears in the rain… Time to die.

This particular scene has tremendous pathos and poignancy and Ridley Scott is simply brilliant here with the large back lit fans in the background (soon to be imitated ad nauseum but Ridley was the first to get it). Rutger Hauer put together the speech especially the last line . Look at him hold on to the dove at the beginning of the piece and then after the replicant dies the dove flies towards the bright sky - the soul released if replicants have a soul? .

The metaphor of tears in the rain on the chiselled features of the Dutch actor, the music in the background and this replicant dying in an extraordinarily ‘ batteries go dead’ way as Rutger puts it in an interview is visual poetry.

Harrison Ford - a replicant himself?? in the directors cut- underplays his character very effectively . He is the bruised, battered but lucky guy.

If people can get a copy of Blade Runner and especially the Directors cut watch it.

It appears to me that it is warm rain and not cold rain and therefore tears in the rain would blend even more to be indistinguishable except for the salt in the tears but if the rain is acidic would that be salty too? Hey who is quibbling.

Leaky wells - Oz way to recharge groundwater

WATER WISE

Leaky wells to the rescue

 

S. VISHWANATH

 

When it comes to water management, the Aussies can sure part with several lessons to many parts of the world

 

 

 

 

 

Australia has been in the news for many reasons recently. When it comes to water and its management there indeed are some lessons that Australia can teach the rest of the world. Faced with a prolonged drought and climate change impacts, the Aussies have perforce been taking a look at better water management practices. Since Australia happens to be terribly well urbanised, urban water has fit in as an important blip on their radar.

Amongst other things, storm water has been seen as too good a resource to be wasted and therefore has featured in the solution paradigm for supply of water to their cities.

A handbook for storm water management has been the result. Do we in India have one? The answer is ‘no.’ Do we need one? ‘Yes.’ All our municipal authorities, property developers and even individual house owners will benefit from one. Who then will get one out? A million-dollar question which remains to be answered.

Responsibility

 

As in India, the responsibility of managing storm water lies with local governments. As the handbook “Introduction to storm water management in Australia” puts it, although urban storm water and treated wastewater are recognised increasingly as important economic resources, they are not widely used to augment supplies in expanding urban areas.

Recent research and demonstration projects have shown that storm water and treated wastewater can be exploited in a cost- effective and environmentally-sensitive manner for new urban developments. In this context:

Water reclamation can reduce potable water demand by as much as 50 per cent.

Properly managed storm water flows provide important flow return to streams, offsetting the environmental impact of upstream water supply diversions and reducing the need for costly in-ground storm water infrastructure.

The enhanced use of natural drainage corridors and depressions can provide open space, landscaped and recreational areas and conservation benefits, increasing the amenity of new urban developments (multiple-use corridors).

Treatment of storm water and wastewater closer to source minimises uncontrolled discharge of water containing high suspended solids, nutrients and organic material.

Onsite detention

 

Almost similar to tanks which our ancients had managed to finetune as a water harvesting technique, are detention ponds. The ponds, in the Australian context, are designed to hold back a design flood, let us say one occurring every 20 years.

Since urbanisation and city development leads to increased run-off, this run-off is stored in water bodies specially designed by the property developer or the city council. This prevents flooding downstream and recharges ground water. Topping up the aquifer then provides water for the future. Detention ponds, however, are still seen as not doing enough to control soil erosion and vector breeding. Lack of bio remediation is also a problem.

Designing a combination of urban wetlands and detention ponds seems the way forward because wetlands do a good job of bio remediation as well provide bio diversity and remedy soil erosion.

A new concept called bio basins is being tried, where the basin lined with gravel will remain dry and not allow for mosquito breeding. When water fills up, it will quickly be allowed to percolate into the ground and the basin itself will dry up and remain a dry landscape feature.

Novel idea

 

Akin to our recharge wells, leaky wells do the reverse of what an ordinary well does. Instead of providing water it takes storm water and recharges it to the aquifer through a soil medium adequate to filter pollutants, if any.

Detailed design guidelines are emerging for leaky wells, which enable designers to include them in best practices for storm water management and thereby mitigate the negative impacts of uncontrolled storm water and convert rain into a positive resource.

The way forward

 

A combination of the use of mass media and education is seen as crucial in bringing about behavioural change amongst policy makers and designers to make storm water management a reality.

Investment in R & D will be essential to learn from ‘on the ground’ experiences and translate them into a easy-to-understand-and-use handbook for developers, architects, landscape designers, urban planners and even the home owner so that water is managed wisely. A systematic and structured approach to addressing a water problem and turning adversity into advantage is water wisdom. Will we rise to the challenge?

 

 

www.rainwaterclub.org

www.arghyam.org