Approach and solutions- Water crisis in Bangalore

As a blogger and a columnist in a newspaper it is still very pleasant to get e-mails like this below. 

Water Shortage – an Open well Rainwater Harvesting solution.

 

These are the days of water shortage. Krishnarajasagar (KRS dam on the Cauvery) is at an all time low in water level. Water rationing is round the corner.

 

Bangalore is well known for its open wells. So why don’t we revive and take care of our open wells?  Places like Malleswaram, Basavanagudi, Jayanagar and VV puram have large wells in the gardens of houses.

 

Of course, many old houses have been demolished giving way to apartment blocks. These depend on borewells and tanker supplies for their water needs. Occasionally BWSSB water is supplied.

 

I have a house in Jayanagar which is 50 years old. I have a well which is 35 feet deep and about 3 feet in diameter. Many years ago – around 15 years ago I installed rooftop Rain water harvesting structures. I collect around 1 lakh litres of rainwater each year of  three rainy seasons. I filter the collected water from the roof and feed it to the well. In about two weeks of rainfall, the well is full of filtered water. The attached photos will show the well brimming with water. These photos were taken last season.

 

I have estimated that I consume around 40,000 litres of water  each year from the well. The remaining 60,000 litres feed the ground water acquifers.  This is a substantial amount of water both for home consumption as well as ground water recharging. During the rainy season I am happy to shut off the BWSSB supply valve. When I use well water for all our needs, I not only save on my BWSSB bills but also precious Cauvery water which is now available for other users. 

 

The rain water harvesting solution is simple and one can do it oneself. It is a self help aid. The cost involved is only for the PVC pipes and filter. In my case I did the plumbing work myself.

 

I wish other citizens of our State help themselves and become self reliant as regards water needs. 

 

Kindly publicise and popularise this concept so that we can overcome the present water crisis.

 

Thanking you,

 

S. Chandra Shekar.

A Plan B for water to a thirsty city – Bangalore

The news on the monsoon front for Bangalore has been disappointing. After the least rainy month for 117 years which was June, July too has seen hardly any downpour in the first 10 days. The clouds are picking up and it is also true that the rainiest months are ahead being August, September and October. The Kabini reservoir which is one of the first to fill up and overflow is almost at rock bottom. It is from here that water flows and joins the Cauvery before it is pumped into the city to reach our taps. It is said that the prayer for rains in the Thanjavur area of the Cauvery delta, the rice bowl of South India, is for it to rain in Mercara so that the Cauvery will flow and reach their fields. Similarly Bangaloreans must pray for rain in Wynad as much as they pray for rain in their own city.

Apart from prayers there should be a Plan B for a low monsoon. What is that? As of now it is not clear that the city has a Plan A let alone a Plan B to distribute water to reach all its citizens. However here is what a Plan B could look like.

Make rainwater harvesting mandatory for all buildings in the city. The lesser the rain that falls on the city, the more precious the water that will be harvested and put to productive use. Every building should become a contributor to the water requirement of the city rather than only placing a demand on it.

Take up de-silting and improvement of all the tanks in the city on a war footing. Here is an opportunity masquerading as a crisis. When citizens have realized the scarcity of water it is for the government to wake up and make plans which are implementable in the short run and which focus on storing water and increasing the groundwater table to recharge the aquifer as and when it rains.

Make it mandatory for all parks and medians to use treated waste-water only. Stop the wasteful use of fresh groundwater in the 1000 or more parks in the city and use the bore-well water to supply it for domestic requirements. There is plenty of treated waste-water in the city which is not being used and the opportunity presents itself to put this to good use for construction activities also such as the metro and the large apartments being built in the city.

Quickly implement the groundwater bill and make sure that groundwater is treated and used as a community property resource rather than as a private good. Take over the large yielding bore-wells and make them part of the city distribution. Every bore-well must be mandated to have a recharge structure and as much of rainwater as possible to be recharged into the ground.

Storm-water drains must be made sewage free and those that are made sewage free should then have recharge structures in them to ensure that storm-water too is put to productive use.

Apartments and layouts – They play an important part in demand management and reducing demand by 20 % should be easy. Metering of each flat should be taken up quickly as is putting the waste-water treatment plants to good use. Treated waste-water must become the first charge for non-potable use and layouts must be mandated to put them into place and start using them immediately.

Watering of lawns and washing of vehicles should be banned and a social mobilization created against such waste quickly.

Individual homes:  My friend from the neighbourhood and 14 years old Aravind suggests that school- children should be involved in water conservation efforts by their parents. One bucket of water for a bath is enough he says. By not getting clothes dirty much water can be saved in washing them and he also suggests that boys should clean their own plates and cups with as less water as possible in homes and schools.

The fragility of our water systems, their dependence on rain  and the linkages of tanks and lakes and groundwater is clear to us. A crisis they is also spelled as opportunity in Chinese Mandarin. Will we make use of the opportunity? Will we put in place a Plan B ?

A Plan B for water to a thirsty city – Bangalore

The news on the monsoon front for Bangalore has been disappointing. After the least rainy month for 117 years which was June, July too has seen hardly any downpour in the first 10 days. The clouds are picking up and it is also true that the rainiest months are ahead being August, September and October. The Kabini reservoir which is one of the first to fill up and overflow is almost at rock bottom. It is from here that water flows and joins the Cauvery before it is pumped into the city to reach our taps. It is said that the prayer for rains in the Thanjavur area of the Cauvery delta, the rice bowl of South India, is for it to rain in Mercara so that the Cauvery will flow and reach their fields. Similarly Bangaloreans must pray for rain in Wynad as much as they pray for rain in their own city.

Apart from prayers there should be a Plan B for a low monsoon. What is that? As of now it is not clear that the city has a Plan A let alone a Plan B to distribute water to reach all its citizens. However here is what a Plan B could look like.

Make rainwater harvesting mandatory for all buildings in the city. The lesser the rain that falls on the city, the more precious the water that will be harvested and put to productive use. Every building should become a contributor to the water requirement of the city rather than only placing a demand on it.

Take up de-silting and improvement of all the tanks in the city on a war footing. Here is an opportunity masquerading as a crisis. When citizens have realized the scarcity of water it is for the government to wake up and make plans which are implementable in the short run and which focus on storing water and increasing the groundwater table to recharge the aquifer as and when it rains.

Make it mandatory for all parks and medians to use treated waste-water only. Stop the wasteful use of fresh groundwater in the 1000 or more parks in the city and use the bore-well water to supply it for domestic requirements. There is plenty of treated waste-water in the city which is not being used and the opportunity presents itself to put this to good use for construction activities also such as the metro and the large apartments being built in the city.

Quickly implement the groundwater bill and make sure that groundwater is treated and used as a community property resource rather than as a private good. Take over the large yielding bore-wells and make them part of the city distribution. Every bore-well must be mandated to have a recharge structure and as much of rainwater as possible to be recharged into the ground.

Storm-water drains must be made sewage free and those that are made sewage free should then have recharge structures in them to ensure that storm-water too is put to productive use.

Apartments and layouts – They play an important part in demand management and reducing demand by 20 % should be easy. Metering of each flat should be taken up quickly as is putting the waste-water treatment plants to good use. Treated waste-water must become the first charge for non-potable use and layouts must be mandated to put them into place and start using them immediately.

Watering of lawns and washing of vehicles should be banned and a social mobilization created against such waste quickly.

Individual homes:  My friend from the neighbourhood and 14 years old Aravind suggests that school- children should be involved in water conservation efforts by their parents. One bucket of water for a bath is enough he says. By not getting clothes dirty much water can be saved in washing them and he also suggests that boys should clean their own plates and cups with as less water as possible in homes and schools.

The fragility of our water systems, their dependence on rain  and the linkages of tanks and lakes and groundwater is clear to us. A crisis they is also spelled as opportunity in Chinese Mandarin. Will we make use of the opportunity? Will we put in place a Plan B ?

Letter from a reader – the thing that makes the world a nice place

I have been an ardent reader of your articles which appears every Saturday in The Hindu (Habitat).

 

I have converted to become a farmer myself after nearly 20 years of Corporate service.  We strongly believe in Organic Farming Practices and Sustainability, which of course, Rain water harvesting is one of major tool. 

 

In one of our farms extending nearly 20 acres we did dig up some trench and ponds for water to be collected during rain about 18 months ago.  The last two years have been frustrating for us with insufficient rainfall and not able to see results with our effort.  Also we had several people laughing at us and ridiculing our work.

 

However, as we all know we received good rainfall on one day i e., on 6th morning in the early hours, it was for about one hour and approximately 35 mm of rainfall was recorded.  The result, it transformed the entire area.  There were no major top soil erosion thanks to various trench which cut across the farm.  Two ponds exclusively created to collect water was filled to the brim.  

 

I have no more words to express than few pictures attached herewith.  I also acknowledge much I was inspired and motivated by writers and activists like you to work in this direction.  I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks on this occasion.  

 

Looking forward to hear from you.   

Contour trench to recharge rainwater

 

The purpose of water

In the small town of Mulbagal, Kolar District , Karnataka, an NGO drove a water project for some years based on the Integrated Urban Water Management approach. One of the key success of the project was the de-silting of a large step well called a ‘Kalyani’ . The step-well is adjacent to a temple and the reason for its being filled with garbage and debris is not known. The de-silting and cleaning was an affair of great pride for the town and especially the Councillor of the area.

In the warm month of March, one saw boys diving and swimming in the rather green waters and having a whale of a time. The high groundwater table in the town ensures that there is water for swimming. Clearly the festival of Holi is an everyday event here in the well.

Water in a town is not to be seen and planned only as a functional engineering construct meant to flow through pipes and be distributed by pumps. Water is a recreational, aesthetic, ecological and even spiritual a material.

 

 

Swimming pools are few and far between in India and for many a luxury they can ill afford. Hundreds of boys and girls in rural India and in small and medium towns have therefore learnt the art of swimming in open, dug wells. With a declining water table there are no more swimming lessons to be learnt and fun had. An entire generation has lost a very significant experience of water. This is so with the polluted rivers and lakes too. Mulbagal has discovered a treasure serendipitously.

Close by to the town we come across a full well of water. A tank above stores and recharges water from a rock catchment and recharges the aquifer. A villager informs us that the name of the well is round well . It is always full and people come from miles to just have a swim and enjoy the pleasure of dunking oneself and splashing in its blue-green waters.

Is there a value attached to such human activities and their loss through a collapsing water table ? Should we not attach the same importance to the non-functional aspects of water which are good for the soul rather than only concentrating on the functional aspects of consumption in taps?

The festival of Holi came and went. With drought prevailing in many parts of the country there were calls for muted celebrations and to play ‘dry’ Holi.  For children and the young the essence of Holi is the splashing of coloured water on each other. Should we as a society go on a guilt trip about this one beautiful experience?

In our neighbourhoods, in our villages and in our towns and cities let us plan that there is wise use of water. Let us also plan that our lakes and tanks are full and that our wells have water throughout the year. It is not an impossible task but requires dedication and a vision.

This monsoon be prepared to harvest the rain, in tanks, in lakes and in the aquifers. Individually and collectively let us stop polluting water bodies and treat them with respect.

Let the children have the experience of water which is not of shortage and worry but one of plenty and one of fun. Let them swim in the full wells of life. That would be water wisdom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKl-cVWE4I 

 

 

World Water Day – on cooperation and sharing

This World Water Day March 22^nd, 2013 is designated as the year of water cooperation. In this part of the world, South India,  large states fight over rivers and take the dispute to the highest court of the land. Even that decision is met with discomfort and is not easily accepted. When states fight is there hope for water and its sharing then?

On a trip to Rajasthan near the old abandoned town of Bhangarh I come across a well. This I am told is on community land, no one owns this well. Farmers have got together and installed some diesel pump-sets. Everybody in a radius of a kilometre almost is allowed to share the waters. The pump-set too can be hired and used. A true example of sharing.

Another town called Vijayapura close to Bangalore. Waste-water flows out of the town in a channel. A farmer whose bore-well has gone dry finds an ingenious way to tap into the waste-water and use it for his land. Other farmers downstream now request that he allow some waste-water to flow so that they can use it too. He readily agrees. Sharing waste-water too is possible.

Close to the nieghbourhood there are a series of deep open wells. These were dug in the 1940’s and even as late as 1960’s by hand with great effort. Those who dug the wells are no more but the families and their descendants continue to benefit from the endeavour of their fore-fathers. Grandfather starts, son completes and grandchildren enjoy the fruits of water from wells so goes an old saying. Though the wells are private the water is not and is available for all the families around who need it for drinking and cooking. Indeed a case of inter-generational sharing, as well as current generation sharing of the precious resource called groundwater.

In the early part of the 1900’s there was a great drought in the city. A betel leaf merchant by the name Yele Mallappa Chetty devoted a large part of his earnings and wealth to the construction of a water body called a tank so as to harvest rainwater and provide succor to the people for drinking water as well as for farming needs. Yele Mallappa Chetty kere is on Old Madras Road and its vast water spread a joy to behold.  Yele Mallappa was a water philanthropist and a grateful city must remember him even now.

In the 1920’s another drought struck the city. The only source of water the Hessarghatta reservoir ran dry. Three large tanks upstream which still had water had to be breached so that their waters could fill the Hessarghatta tank and provide drinking water to an already thirsty city. This was done only in consultation with farmers who would lose their crops in the three tanks. The city ensured drinking water to the villages and paid cash compensation to the farmers for giving up their water, a sterling example of water cooperation indeed.

In the modern times people establish water kiosks called ‘Pyaoos’. Free water is distributed to those thirsty especially in the scorching summer months of March, April and May. This is all voluntary action and especially a facet of the Marwari community from Rajasthan. Nothing is more worthy a deed than giving water to people and animals.

Why cannot ‘pyaoos’ be established by some of the large commercial and residential buildings in the city? Water can be provided to passerbys , construction workers et al who would be thirsty in an increasingly dry city. I such efforts of goodwill and compassion beyond us ? Not necessarily so.

There are many bore-wells with hand-pumps in the city. An auto rickshaw driver pumps water from one in Malleswaram and slakes his thirst. He then fills a bottle of water from the same hand-pump and goes to a roadside sampling and waters it. He does this  every day sharing water with a tree.

On the streets a neighbour starts chatting. She puts a small bowl of water replenished every day and kept in a corner providing relief to myriad birds, insects and creatures of nature in a thirsty urban world. She thoroughly enjoys the bio-diversity she gets to see. Many do it out of a sense of selflessness. Can you?

There are acts great and small done with a spirit of community and these acts are their own reward. This World Water Day let us renew our commitment to the spirit that is water , renew our bonds with it and the world that surrounds us, let us share with people who have little access and let us also share with nature so that the web of life is reinforced. That would be water wisdom.

Water lifting devices – the development of hydro-technology

In other posts I have argued that the first epoch making move for human-kind came from the discovery that a hole in the ground could yield water. Till then tied to the tyranny of rivers , lakes and springs ,humankind could but hover around surface water bodies.

The well allowed them to move into the vast landscape of the earth and the countryside was now all to occupy. Around this idea developed the science of water divining. Where to dig for water , how to read the signs on the land to determine the best places to dig, how deep to dig and how wide to dig.  Water provided the first codified , shareable knowledge.

Then came technology . The pulley must have been the first technology to be invented. This made lifting of water easier from the wells. The pulley then became the wheel I hazard. Water was necessary before locomotion.

One of the water lifting devices is still in use in certain parts of India . This is called the ‘Chadas’ or simply the lifter.

Here is how the Chadas works. Beautiful isn’t it?

Here of course is the Persian Wheel

A basic device based on the principle of the fulcrum and lever was the Joto or the Yeta

The culture of the well

The culture of the well

 

The well represents a culture and an ethic that is crucial to the sustainable use of water. A well taps only the dynamic water-table, which is annually replenished.

 

                     A well at Lothal – 2600 B.C.

 

 
Water Wisdom: Drawing water from a well called for effort, and so water use was efficient and minimal

 

What is a well’s relevance in a city now? It represents a culture and an ethic which is crucial to the sustainable use of water. A well taps only the dynamic water table which is annually replenished. It gives fresh clean water if the surroundings are kept clean and the well itself maintained every year. It represents an understanding of soil and the ground which resulted in the first scientific approach to understand where to dig for it, how deep to dig, how wide to dig and how to line it. It was the meeting point for exchange of information and a daily walk or two and exercise in lifting the water. Because it called for effort, water use was efficient and minimal. You would hardly want to lift more water to waste it. This, in current parlance, is called demand management. The water from the well was free, the human right to water.

The well talks to you if you care to listen. It tells you that summer is approaching as water levels fall. You are asked to be prudent and conserve water. It tells you that this year the rainfall failed and is a drought year so there is very little water available. It also tells you about years of plenty when sometimes the well filled to the brim. Demand and supply was, therefore, based on ecological availability of rain and water and was dynamic.

Contrast this when man is distanced from the source of water with a utility as an intermediary. The borewell and the pipelines hardly converse with you and water is now distanced to be consumed as a commodity. When the resource runs out there is a feeling of betrayal and panic.

The culture had its ills. Wells were caste-based in certain areas with certain people not allowed to use it. It became polluted easily if not taken care of. Certain disease like cholera could spread easily if the water was not treated and people committed suicide in it.

Modern recharge wells

It is therefore heartening to see the revival of the well culture.

Rainwater harvesting being made mandatory has seen a proliferation of recharge wells- structures 3 to 5 feet in diameter and 10 to 30 feet deep are being dug and rooftop rainwater filtered and led into it. A recent visit to an apartment of 24 flats was enlightening. The occupants had dug seven recharge wells and made sure that every drop of water falling on the site was diverted to it. Over time the water levels had come up and could be seen in the open well itself.

The borewell, 200 feet deep, which had gone dry had revived and was yielding better than old times. Every time it rained the occupants would check that the system was functioning and that water was flowing into the recharge wells.

The connect with rain and water seemed to have been re-established for these urban dwellers.

An old well on rocky terrain which had gone dry showed 20 feet of standing water after recharge. A small pump was humming merrily and the well water was being used.

Open wells have the least energy costs in pumping and the higher the water table the lower the energy demand. Rainwater harvesting and recharge helps reduce energy demand and carbon emissions.

All over the city wells are making a comeback. Now to receive water and replenish the earth, unlike the old days when they use to give water. Wells can be planned and integrated in every form of development — individual homes, institutions, industries and large apartments. Storm water and rainwater networks can be linked for recharge of the aquifer.

Urban flooding can be reduced, if not eliminated, through the right design and use of the wells and with time and careful stewardship they shall connect the clouds and the earth.

Precautions

Two precautions are needed: adequate collection and disposal of sewage so as not to pollute the wells and adequate disposal of garbage.

Restricted demand based on availability of water in the well will mean sustainable water needs for the city.

Cities would be well advised to reinvent the well culture both from a traditional but also a functional point of view.

We can rightly say all is well with our waters then. That would be water wisdom.

This land is my land, this land is your land….

For a nation fixated on the growth of GDP many have been reminding that the resource base which makes this possible needs stewardship. The soil , the forests , the rivers , the bio-diversity….all need a careful look .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np5O7VznXqI 

 

The things we do and the things we forget

On the culture of maintenance and a need to focus here in the water sector

zenrainman@gmail.com

The city has been making large investments in improving its water bodies. Lakes have seen boundaries being defined, bunds being improved, fences being put up, walking tracks laid, trees being planted and waters being stored.

 

 

In the evening observing the tranquil water body with the fishermen in coracles on their evening catch and the birds returning home is a soul lifting experience. These water bodies are not only ecological spaces but also perform an incredibly important one of recharging the groundwaters in the environs. With its 400,000 or so bore-wells entirely dependent on the lakes for keeping them alive it is imperative that the lake waters be clean and percolate.

Unfortunately an old malady strikes, the penchant to build but not be able to maintain a system well. Within months fences are broken, bunds are fissure, garbage strewn all over the place and people using this water body as a defecation ground. While lakes are community spaces , vandalism does not count as community use.

We have to create institutions that will take ownership and maintain the lake as an asset. Institutions such as the Lake Development Authority as the name itself suggests, do not seem to be good at becoming Lake Management Authorities.

 

Community based ownership models have simply not shown endurance with the initial enthusiasm waning after some years.

It is therefore best that the water bodies be handed to agencies such as the water utility which should slowly transform itself to become an Integrated Water Management Utility, responsible and managing piped water, ground water , surface water , rain water and treated waste-water.

Unless we invest in creating new institutions that are able to face the challenge of managing water in a metropolis, unless we arm it with adequate skills and monies, unless we empower and then hold accountable all our efforts at trying to restore lakes will be a sisyphian endeavour, doomed to repetition and failure.

The city has been a pioneer at many an interesting water endeavour, it is time show the way in managing our lakes.