Home is where the water is
Ten ideas for sustainable water management in layouts and apartments Play it safe: Check quality of water before use. As urbanisation spreads, layouts with individual sites and apartments are coming up all around our cities. It is clear that the mere presence of a large overhead tank or a brochure promising 24 hours water supply is not sufficient enough for buyers to be convinced that they will have water when they need it. What are the key questions that a potential site buyer or apartment owner should ask regarding water before making the big investment decision? What are the 10 key things that a developer has to address before a potential owner is satisfied with the way things are handled with water and its sustainability? 1) What is the source/s of water and how sustainable are they in the long run? Clearly multiple sourcing of water has come to stay. Water will be sourced through city mainlines, borewells, private tankers, bottled water and recycled water. How does one know that this mix is stable and will be available all through the year? Quality 2) What is the quality of water in the borewell? What are the treatment systems for the various waters sourced? As borewells are the main source of water in the periphery of the cities, the quality of water from them becomes important. What are the measures of monitoring water quality for everybody to know and take action accordingly. 3) What is the dependency of supply during failures of electricity on site? Are there back up generators or overhead tanks to assure you that water will be available even when there is no electricity? 4) Does the layout have sewage collection and treatment plants? Is it ensuring a quality of water high enough for it to be reused for at least non-potable purpose thus reducing demand on higher quality water? 5) Does the layout have rainwater harvesting systems? Has it put into place good rainwater harvesting systems to either collect or recharge water for reuse? Is this being measured or is this only a token gesture? 6) Is the storm water collected and recharged? Storm water drains can pick up, treat and recharge the groundwater so that it can be drawn again from open wells or bore wells for use. Is this system designed well and is it working? Are there measurements for its success? 7) What is the landscape plan to minimise water consumption? Does the landscape demand high water use? Will this cause water problems such as over draw from the ground water or high bills for private water tankers? 8) Are there separate water meters for each site and each flat? Will the system reward me for low water use and punish those who use more of it? This will only be possible if individual connections are metered and bills served individually. 9) Is there a good garbage management plan for the entire layout/apartments? Weak collection and disposal of waste is a problem that contaminates not only the landscape but also surface water and groundwater. Have adequate precautions and systems been put in place, for example, for source segregation composting and recycling. S.Viswanath, Bangalore
Related Content
- Reply filed by the Upper Doab Sugar Mills and Sir Shadi Lal Enterprise on steps taken to control pollution and protect environment, 01/12/2022
- Global multidimensional poverty index 2022: unpacking deprivation bundles to reduce multidimensional poverty
- Order of the Supreme Court regarding redressal of grievances of migrant labourers in different part of India, 31/03/2020
- The crisis in the classroom: the state of the world’s toilets 2018
- Using solar technologies to increase household satisfaction with power supply
- Govt may ease green norms to boost affordable housing