Water is a finite resource. Total water availability on the planet is fixed. Due to misuse and improper management of water, more and more water is moving from usable to no-usable. With the urbanization of cities across India, proper water management is becoming essential in order to recycle this precious resource. Water management is a major crisis to be tackled in a developing country like India. While one part of the society soaks in the luxury of water, the other grieves in barren sadness. Water management in India is indeed important for following reasons:
- Large parts of India have become water stressed due to rapid growth in population, urbanization and changing lifestyle.
- Climate changes resulting in salinity intrusion in ground water and surface waters.
- Skewed availability of water between different regions and different people in the same regions is causing social unrest.
- Groundwater, a community resource, is still perceived as an individual property and is exploited inequitably.
- Inter-state and inter-regional disputes in sharing of water hampers the optimum utilization of water.
- Existing water resources infrastructure is not being maintained properly resulting in under-utilization of available resources.
- Growing pollution of water sources is affecting the availability of safe water.
In addition, water management in residential complexes has been a burning issue in light of the increasing scarcity of water. Water is the greatest commodity that mankind possesses and yet is very casual and wasteful about it. Citizens can curb this situation at the local level with simple water management techniques and habits, starting at home. Nowadays, most of the residents of upscale apartments mention that efficient water management not only ensures a continuous supply of water in their housing areas, but also minimizes the wastage of it.
Water management is not a humungous task that cannot be undertaken on a basic scale i.e. on the household levels. For starters, in metropolitan areas of India like Mumbai, the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation), has made it mandatory to have water conservation systems in newly built residences and related other living spaces. It is a small step towards water management, but with a mass effort, we can overcome the problem of scarcity of water by optimizing the consumption of water when needed and conserving it when not in use.
At the structural level, residential landscapes can be designed for two basic purposes- to reduce flooding and to conserve water in times of water scarcity. Residential complexes can use green infrastructural approaches, like water ponds, rain gardens, and rain water harvesting tanks, water recycling tanks, and drip irrigation to more sustainably manage water.
Change starts at the base level and that is at the household. At home, residents can manage water better by using it more carefully while carrying out day to day activities of cooking, washing clothes & utensils, watering plants, bathing, etc. Here a few techniques which can help in both short and long run to conserve water at the micro level and gradually overcome the water crisis:
- Turn off the tap while brushing teeth – Turn off the faucet after wetting the brush, and leave it off until it’s time to rinse.
- Turn off the tap while washing hands – Save a few gallons of water and turn the faucet off after wetting hands till the scrubbing is done. Use water again only when it’s time to rinse.
- Watch out for water leaks –Identifying and fixing leaky faucets, taps and pipes can mean big water savings.
- Re-use of cooking stock – Instead of dumping stock water down the drain, try using the water for non-potable purposes like watering plants (after water has cooled down), flushing toilets, etc.
Effort should be directed at minimizing consumption not water, while keeping the reduction of spillage in mind. A residential complex can simply manage water better generating awareness of the following:
- Water Management – Making people aware of why the implementation of water management in complexes is necessary.
- Rain Water Harvesting – System to collect rainwater directly into rain water storage tanks or charging ground aquifers.
- Greywater Usage – Wastewater from non-toilet plumbing systems such as hand basins, washing machines, showers and baths which can be useful non-potable purposes such as watering plants, washing cars, flushing toilets.
- Dual Piping System – System helps to save water by having a dual plumbing system that helps to easily access the rainwater or grey water separate from the potable water.
- Individual Water Metering – Helps to make people use water more carefully a can bring down the water consumption bill by as much as 15%.
Water is the indispensable resource for the sustenance of all life and is the basic need for all activities right from domestic use to agriculture and industry functions. Changes in the usage of water—whether in the point of diversion, location of use, or type of use, and whether or not accompanied by changes in ownership of water rights —are necessary and desirable in a dynamic society today. We have only scratched the surface of conservation of water. To better preserve our water resources, actions and attitudes towards sustainability must be inculcated at a high level throughout the nation to work together towards the same goal.
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