With global warming increasing temperatures significantly, every resident in your housing society must be feeling the heat. The sale of air-conditioners has been on an increase the world over, but air conditioners are power hungry monsters. They use up a lot of energy to keep the room cool and use more power than the other appliances in each house in a housing society.

How can you and the other members of your housing society plan to cut your costs (to the pocket and to the environment) while buying air-conditioners?

You can do this by opting for energy efficient models. More importantly, your housing society should ask all residents to look for energy star ratings on the ACs that they buy. The higher the energy efficiency, the more stars will the air conditioner have. Air-conditioners work by removing the humidity from the air, and then cooling the drier air.

You should know what you’re looking for when you buy an energy efficient air conditioner.

What You Should Look For

• Cooling Capacity – For this, you need to understand about British Transfer Units. The cooling capacity should be something that you perfectly need as having a huge AC for a small room can be a waste.

• Energy Efficiency – Look for the Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) when you buy an air conditioner. This is the ratio between the cooling capacity of the AC and its power consumption (Watts).

• Coefficient Performance Rating (COP) – This is very similar to the EER. It is generally expressed as the ratio of cooling produced to the amount of energy used – energy output to energy input.

• BEE Energy Star Rating – The Energy Star Rating rates the efficiency of the air conditioner in relation to the power usage. The more stars, the more efficient the given unit is.

A little bit about BEE Energy Star Ratings

BEE has made affixing Energy Ratings Labels mandatory for all room ACs from 2010. You might have to spend a bit more when you buy these energy efficient units. But then, air conditioners are the most expensive equipments in a home in terms of power consumption. So this additional investment should be well worth it, and help you save on energy bills through the life of the machine.

General Tips for Housing Society Residents

Here are some general tips that housing society residents can follow when buying air-conditioners. Take into account the size of the room, the heat, and the humidity levels in your region. Consider too, the number of people who can fit into the room and keep cool.

• Size of Room

If you buy an AC that is too small for the room, it will be overworked trying to pump out all the humidity and cool the air in that big space. If you buy an AC that is too big, the room may cool too quickly, before all the moisture is removed, leaving the humidity hanging in the air.

• Number of People

If just one or two people occupy the room, a small AC in relation to the size of the room might suffice. If more people need to be accommodated into the room, consider a higher capacity AC. The more people there are in a room, the more body heat they generate and the more the AC needs to work to keep the room cool.

• Programmable Units

Look for programmable models. These can be programmed to provide optimal cooling during the early part of the night, then they can be automatically be switched off in the cooler hours of the early morning. They can also detect the area that needs cooling and adjust the settings automatically.

Do some research and ask around before shopping for your AC. With the range of models now available, you can choose the best fit for your needs and save on the energy front if you just keep the basic things in mind. If every resident in the housing society has an energy efficient air conditioner, a lot of energy can be effectively saved, with minimal wastage.

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If you find that the electric water heater in your housing society flat is sending your power bill soaring through the roof and still can’t do without the comfort of a hot shower, you can install a solar water heater.

It’s now become commonplace for a housing society to go green by adopting environmentally friendly measures, and in an effort to continue the same, you can opt for BEE Star Rated appliances. BEE Star Rating – you would probably have seen this on your refrigrator or on the home appliances in a shop. This is a rating that was adapted from Energy Star concept introduced in the US – initially applied to computers and monitors, but later expanded to include home appliances, electronic items, even homes. With every housing society trying to find ways to cut energy costs and go green, BEE Star Rating assumes a very important role.  

A Little Bit of History – Energy Star

Energy Star was first designed by the US Environment Protection Agency back in 1992. The EPA was concerned about the increase in the number of power hungry appliances resulting in more power usage.

An increase in energy consumption puts more demand on the power plant that supplies the electricity. Many power plants burn fossil fuels like coal to generate power. This produces carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

What Products Come Under Energy Star Standards

Energy Star started out as a US standard, but was quickly adopted throughout the world. Most energy rating systems around the world are built on the Energy Star Model. The first product that this rating was applied to was computer monitors. Monitors, especially the old CRTs were the main power guzzlers in a computer system. Energy Star compliant monitors went into sleep mode when not used over a few minutes, reducing power consumption. Later, the EPA partnered with the US Department of Electricity to include more products. Energy Star now applies to diverse products like computers, heaters, air conditioners, lights, electronic products and even homes.

The Benefits of Using Energy Star Rated Appliances

The Energy Star label on a Home Appliance means that it uses less energy. This not only benefits the environment, it also cuts cost for the people who use them. Using Energy Star compliant home appliances results in significantly reduced energy costs.

Refrigerators, water-heaters, air-conditioners and other such products form a major part of power usage in a household. With Energy Star compliance, these products will naturally be more efficient in their energy usage, bringing down electricity costs. This may not seem like much in a small scale, but over a period of time, it can make a difference.

Reducing energy costs while at the same time helping the environment is a great feel good combination. So the next time you shop for a product or another housing society resident does, you should first look for its energy usage ratings.

Energy Star in India

In May 2006, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, which functions under the Ministry of Power, launched a standards and labeling program for home appliances. Manufacturers of home appliances could choose to affix BEE Star Labels to guide consumers while buying an appliance.

This label can indicate the level of energy consumption of the device in two ways. It can give absolute values stating, on an average, the number of electrical units that would be used by the appliance. It can also use the star rating system. The star ratings range from one to five. The more number of stars, the more energy efficient the appliance is.

BEE Labels indicate a higher efficiency of functioning in the devices you buy. You will end up buying quality products that function well, while saving on electricity costs.

How Housing Society Members Can Help

Cutting back on power consumption helps reduce the need for society on costs such as DG Sets and associated fuel costs. But that need not necessarily mean to cut back on your comforts. That is where BEE Star Ratings comes in. Since this rating asks the manufacturers to build energy efficient measures into their products, residents in your housing society can buy BEE Star rated appliances for their homes and indirectly contribute to energy conservation. This initiative can be taken up the housing society association, which can organize a campaign to bring about the required changes. Although the housing society association can’t force residents to buy energy efficient appliances, spreading awareness can help the cause.

So the next time you buy a home appliance, you can try buying a star rated one and in this way save your money and also save the environment.

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This article aims at collating and providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. While ApnaComplex has taken every care to ensure the information is accurate, we suggest to please use it only as a guidance for further discussion and action with help of relevant professionals.

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive and value-for-money housing society / apartment accounting and management software. Read what some of our customers say about ApnaComplex and its features. There is a a 30-day no obligation free trial for every complex. Go ahead and register your complex and see how you can manage your complex more easily, efficiently, and effectively.

When your apartment association members are thinking of drawing up energy saving tips for all residents, include the ceiling fan into the list if someone else already hasn’t. Ceiling fans should form an important part of your standard home appliance installations. Even if every house in your housing society has a centralized air-conditioner, it cannot beat the value that a ceiling fan provides. The running cost of a Ceiling Fan is almot 25 times lower than that of Air Conditioner.

Ceiling Fans – What They Do

Ceiling fans do not cool the air the way an air-conditioner does. Instead, they move around the air inside the room and blow the air all over the place so that a steady breeze is created. People within the room keep their cool through sweating and evaporation. In hot weather, your body sweats a lot in an attempt to cool off. Ceiling fans help your body cool off by blowing the air on you and evaporating the sweat.

Ceiling fans just move around the air that is already there in the room, so if you have allowed the room to heat up because you’ve not weather proofed your windows and ceilings, the fan will just blow down hot air on you and make you feel hotter. To make sure that all residents get maximum benefits from their ceiling fans, ensure that every residence in your housing society uses sun reflective covers on the windows and weather proofs the roof.

Ceiling Fan Buying Tips

Fans now come in a wide variety of colors and styles. You can get fans with lights, decorative fans, simple but aesthetic and efficient fans, you name it. Gone are the days when you had to go out and buy a three bladed white ceiling fan that weighed about a ton. Now, you can shop around for fans that will add to your interior décor, and make you feel cool in more ways than one.

• Look for the Noise Factor – Inexpensive fans do not incorporate noise reducing features.  So switching on a ceiling fan can make you want to use ear plugs to shut out the noise. Make sure your fan has noise suppression built in.
• Consider the Blade Pitch – Look for a good blade pitch. The blade pitch is the angle of the blade in relation to the fan. This helps to move the air effectively.  A blade pitch of 10 or twelve degrees is considered good.
• The Importance of the Motor – The fan’s motor should match the blade pitch and length. That is, it should be bigger if the blade has a higher pitch and the blade is longer. There is no point in buying a fan with a good pitch and blade length, if the motor can’t run it well.
• Choose a Good Fan Size – Ceiling fan sizes are measured from the tip of one blade to the tip of the opposite blade. Size should be an important factor in buying a ceiling fan. The size of the room, how clear the space is, how high the ceiling is should all be taken into consideration. Generally, for your living room, buy a larger fan. Get a medium sized fan for your bedroom. Buy smaller sizes for kitchen or the bathroom.
• The Down Rod – Match the size of the down rod to the height of the ceiling. If you have a high ceiling, you are going to need a longer down rod for the fan to be effective. Don’t make the fan hang too low. Someone could accidentally put up their hand and get it caught in the rotating blades.
• Ceiling Fan Controls – Fans generally come with a wall mount dial control for controlling speed. Newer fans can also come with a remote control. Comes in handy in bedrooms if you have a faulty design of the electrical wiring where you need to get out of the bed to reach the switch board
• Lights or No Lights – If your fan comes with light fixtures, make sure the fixture can accept CFL bulbs.

Saving Electricity With Ceiling Fans

Using ceiling fans is a good way to cut down on power consumption. When it is comparatively cooler, you can switch off the AC and use the fan. You can also supplement the functioning of the AC with a ceiling fan’s ability to rotate the cooled air and spread it around the room. Also, once the AC has cooled down the room, you can switch it off and use the fan for a while. The housing society association can highlight the importance of having ceiling fans by promoting their power saving factor.

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This article aims at collating and providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. While ApnaComplex has taken every care to ensure the information is accurate, we suggest to please use it only as a guidance for further discussion and action with help of relevant professionals.

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive and value-for-money housing society / apartment accounting and management software. Read what some of our customers say about ApnaComplex and its features. There is a a 30-day no obligation free trial for every complex. Go ahead and register your complex and see how you can manage your complex more easily, efficiently, and effectively.

History of Growth of Water Treatment Industry

The water treatment industry in India is well established and has been around since the early 1950s with just a few players  at that time, several of them subsidiaries of companies known internationally. The market grew over the last 5 decades and today, there are probably close to a few thousand companies(including many small, local companies) as  players now in the market. As the industrialization and development of the country progressed, water use too grew rapidly with water  being used with utter profligacy depleting ground water and polluting surface water with industrial waste water and enormous quantities of domestic sewage.

As water quality deteriorated, there was a clear opportunity for companies to bring in Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology to cater to the drinking water needs of the country. The standard for drinking water BIS-10500 had also been established in 1991 by the Indian Standards Institution (ISI) now re-named Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This standard reflected the deterioration that water quality had undergone, particularly ground water. BIS-10500 has laid down the desirable quality, the acceptable quality and lastly the permissible quality for water used for human consumption if no better,  alternate source was available. Such a situation was ideal for the growth of the water treatment industry to cater to the domestic segment using RO for drinking water purification since ground water over much of the country had deteriorated due to over exploitation leading to water with dissolved solids content far in excess of the maximum limit specified by BIS-10500.There was enormous growth in the industry that catered to the water demand of the domestic market.

The economic reforms of 1991 too saw the accelerated GDP growth. In this  scenario, the real estate development industry too geared up to meet the pent up demand for housing in the country. If one takes Bangalore as a typical example of this growth, it saw the city of Bangalore growing in size, spreading out, growing in all directions with a virtual forest of apartment complexes and gated communities springing up in almost no time at all! As much of this growth was in areas to which BWSSB was unable to supply Cauvery Water, the residents of such areas had to make do with ground water which was mostly hard water and had excess total dissolved solids. Now, this gave birth to Water Treatment Plants in Apartment Complexes and Housing Societies.

Water treatment plants in Apartment Complexes & Housing Societies

Let us first examine in detail the reasons leading to Water Treatment Plants in Housing Societies.

Hard Water

High hardness in water causes deposit of scales in vessels used for heating water,in hot water geysers and in pressure cookers. Hard water causes poor quality of washing in washing machines, increases consumption of detergent and prevents soap from lathering when having a bath or even when just washing utensils. Hard water prevents dal and rice from cooking, spoils the taste of tea when it is used to make tea and, it also ruins the taste of whiskey when it is used to make a drink!! Hard water fails to  quench your thirst when you drink it. Hard water also forms scales in the pipes carrying water and can warrant replacement of all water pipes in the complex after few years which can be a very huge expense.

Obviously, softeners are the answers to such problems. Softeners have therefore become very common in apartment complexes  in the form of a large centrally installed system that softens all water used in the premises it is installed in. Some times there is no centralized softener in an apartment complex and one finds that some individual apartments have installed small domestic softeners to soften the water for various uses or to soften the water fed to a small domestic RO unit.

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)

Total dissolved solids is the total of all the minerals present in a water including the total hardness. A total dissolved solids content of approximately 300 to 500 ppm (or mg/litre) is acceptable and does not need to be treated by an RO unit.  However, in most places well waters often have TDS levels as high as 1000 ppm or more.

This is where an RO system comes in as very useful as it can remove 90 to 95% of the TDS and thus provide good tasting water.  Using an RO unit would produce treated water with TDS as low as 20 to 30 ppm. However, it is important to note that hard water cannot be directly fed into a RO unit as it forms hardness sacale on the RO Membrane. Thus, Soft water is the best kind of water to feed an RO unit. There are apartment complexes where the residents of a complex have shared the cost of installing a central RO system which is used to supply RO water to all the apartments in the  complex 

Suspended Impurities

In a majority of the cases, softeners need to protected from the presence of suspended impurities in the feed water. This is done by installing a pressure sand filter and, some times by also installing an additional activated carbon filter which protects the softener from the effects of chlorinated water and organic impurities. Such filtration systems are also a must as a pre-treatment for RO systems.

Thus, essentailly we need water to pass through filternation plats, followed by softener, and then through RO Unit to get potable water.

Swimming pool purification process

In apartments / socieites where Swimming Pools are present, swimming pool purification plants need to be present to take care of the clarity of pool water and need to be used  well in advance to ‘turn over’ the entire contents of the pool before swimmers can use it. Pools need water that is clear, have an almost neutral pH and are free from  any bacteria. This involves having to dose a variety of chemicals into the pool water daily. This ends up increasing the chemical content of the pool water which then needs to brought down by diluting the pool with fresh water after the pool filter has been backwashed(cleaned). The backwashing process reduces the quantity of pool water and this is made up with fresh water to dilute the concentration of chemicals in the water.

Now comes the question – with every step of water treamtment, there is bound to be waste water getting generated. How much is this quantity and can anything be done about this ‘waste’ water.

Waste Water Generated by each treatment process

In such a scenario, it is absolutely essential to take a good look at the waste water generated by each treatment process which are given below:

1. Filters: Water lost due to backwash to clean filters is between 10 to 15%. This means that for every 100 litres of filtered water, a filter needs 110 to 115 litres of feed water. This applies to swimming pool filters too.
2. Softeners: Water lost due to ‘regeneration’ or ‘ recharge’ is as much as 30% if inlet hardness is around 300 to 350 ppm as CaCo3 and increases as the inlet hardness increases. Feed water needed will be 130 litres or more for each 100 litres of  soft water or more depending on higher hardness values.
3. RO plants: Small, domestic units used in individual households are the most wasteful and the waste can be as high as 90% in small units and lower if the RO system is of large capacity and waste in such systems would be around 50 to 30% of feed water.

Need to Reduce Waste Water from the Purification/treatment methods

Hardly any housing society or apartment residents’ association or its plant operating personnel know or bother to monitor the waste water that is created by any of the treatment systems used in an apartment complex. Worse still I have yet to see any plant installed which has a water meter fitted at the inlet that can help to monitor the amount of water treated and wasted during regeneration of softeners, backwash of filters and during normal operations of RO systems which have a steady flow of ‘ reject’ water going to waste during operation. In a majority of the places they do not even have an accurate figure of the total water coming into the property particularly if they have yielding bore wells. As most parts of Bangalore now have dry bore wells and get water in tankers, some vague figure based on the number of tankers supplied is available. Tanker volumes are notoriously unreliable and they seldom supply what they claim as the tanker capacity.

Need to have better operations and maintenance of WTPs

I have seen numerous WTPs (filters,softeners, RO plants & swimming pool purifica-tion).Most of them ( close to 95%) are badly operated or not operated. Maintenance is seldom done as per schedule(actually, I have yet to see a maintenance schedule!). This is a wasteful practice and results in the unnecessary waste of water that could otherwise have been used in some apartments.

Proper treatment of waste water

Regeneration/reject waste and filtration waste waters in any property usually goes as a mixture clandestinely to storm water drains. The quality of this waste water is such that pollution control laws do not permit such disposal and it would normally have to be sent to the STP for treatment, as, normally STP treated water is usually re-cycled and not (can not be) discharged.

Bleak future

If this is the state of affairs with WTPs, I question the need to even install such systems as they do not meet the objective of producing treated water. The main point that needs to be kept in mind is that the increasing scarcity of fresh water will make the use of WTPs unviable as there will not be enough fresh water (from bore wells/tankers) for both use and regeneration/re-charge of WTPs. I also predict that swimming pools will soon become unviable for swimming pool use, but could definitely be used as a storage whenever a sizeable volume of water becomes available.

About the author
Mr. S.S. Ranganathan, author of this guest post, is a retired senior executive of Ion Exchange and currently a freelance Water Management Consultant based in Bangalore. His blog at “India Water Portal” explains the work he does in detail. He can be reached at +91-93437-34229.

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This article aims at providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely of Mr. S. S. Ranganathan and NOT of ApnaComplex or its representatives. We suggest to post your queries or comments below and Mr. Rangathan can answer them at his convenience.

ApnaComplex wishes every one a very Happy Holi!

Celebrate, rejoice and make merry – while dodging splashes of colors at the same time. Take some time off your chores and unwind with your fellow members in the society. We’ve put together some simple dos and don’ts for a safe, thoughtful and fun Holi. You can also download these Do’s and Don’ts in a printer friendly, attractive poster format that you can share with all your society members and also put up on your Society’s noticeboard.

Dos and Don’ts

Dos

Don’ts

Use all-natural colors and powders made from flower extracts Give your children buckets of clean water and monitor their activities Roll your car windows up while driving inside the apartment complex Take out your old and faded clothes and wear them for the occasion Apply colors on people’s faces in a gentle manner, and understand that some residents may not be in a mood to celebrate Give your children a short brief on the cultural significance behind the fun festival Apply oil on your skin and hair – you can slip away easily, and the colors won’t stick!

Don’t use unclean water Don’t use artificial colors (abir), as these contain flakes of mica Don’t pour colored water on plants and garden areas Don’t create a mess in the common areas and parking lots, always stick to the site that the committee decides on Drinking bhang maybe customary, but don’t force feed it to anyone Don’t take things to heart if your neighbor’s children go overboard, be forgiving Don’t spray colors on the walls, vehicles or doorways of other residents Don’t throw balloons or spray colored water inside other flats, and respect their personal space

May the festival bring along good health and good luck to you and your family!

In final part of “Does Bangalore face Waterless Future?” series presented by ApnaComplex, Mr. S.S.Ranganathan elaborates on “RECYCLE” parts of his “REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE” mantra for Water Conservation. He explains how technology can help recycle waste water to potable water.
Looking for earlier parts fo this series? Read Part – 1 and Part – 2.

RE-USE

Reuse of water is possible when you consider that the water used in a washing machine can be collected and used to flush toilets.Of course, this becomes very difficult and cumbersome in an apartment.It is possible without much difficulty in a bungalow, so this
aspect  is not going to be discussed further.

RECYCLE

In the present context, this means that water used and therefore contaminated is subjected to treatment and thereafter used for uses other that drinking , cooking and bathing/washing. Water used by humans emerges with contaminants like soap/detergent/cleaning chemicals, oil, grease from the kitchens and bathrooms due to its use for washing and bathing. This water is referred to as “sullage” or “grey water”. Whereas, water used to flush toilets results in what is often called “ black water” but commonly known as “Sewage”. On an average 75 to 80% of water used by a human in a residence emerges as waste water. In an apartment/gated community, both these waters come out of the buildings/villas through separate pipes, but, are combined and taken to a Sewage Treatment Plant(STP).

Grey water is easier to treat than sewage, but, since in most places space is expensive, it is combined with sewage and treated in an STP. In a majority of cases, fresh water is used by the resident in a building to flush toilets with fresh water whereas, toilet flushing does not need  water that is good enough to drink. It is essential therefore to install a well designed STP and install separate tanks on the roof of each building with dedicated plumbing for toilet flushing, gardening and washing of cars, yards /roads, etc. Recycling is capable of reducing fresh water demand by as much as 50%.

The island nation Singapore has no fresh water of its own, but gets water piped in from neighbouring Malaysia. In anticipation of a possible stoppage of water by Malaysia, Singapore has build STPs with ‘ polishing treatment’ using a process called ultrafiltration which makes purified sewage fit to drink. This treated sewage meets as much as 30% of the drinking water demand of Singapore and is even sold as bottled water with the name “ Nuwater”. I have personally brought bottles of this water back to India and used it for drinking. The technology is available in India too, but it does not come cheap.

I often get questions asking what is the ROI (return on investment) with these investments in having proper STPs, proper plumbing and technology. My answer is that such a question is irrelevant when there is no fresh water to drink! The only alternative is to die of thirst? What would you prefer?

About the author
Mr. S.S. Ranganathan, author of this series of guest posts, is a retired senior executive of Ion Exchange and currently a freelance Water Management Consultant based in Bangalore. His blog at “India Water Portal” explains the work he does in detail. He can be reached at +91-93437-34229.

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This article aims at providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely of Mr. S. S. Ranganathan and NOT of ApnaComplex or its representatives. We suggest to post your queries or comments below and Mr. Rangathan can answer them at his convenience.

In part-2 of “Does Bangalore face Waterless Future” series presented by ApnaComplex, Mr. S.S.Ranganathan elaborates on ‘REDUCE’ part of his ‘mantra’ – REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. He goes on to recommend installation of water meters for every flat/villa in a gated community based on his studies/experience. Read “Does Bagalore face Waterless Future? Part – 1″.

REDUCE

This refers to current water consumption which needs to be monitored carefully so that it can be reduced. Water consumption guidelines are laid down by the CPHEEO (Central Public Health Engineering & Environmental Organisation) which is a central govt.organisation is as given below:

This is the suggested quota applicable to urban areas, while the quota applicable to the 4 metros is 150 litres. Litres used per person per day is known as “ litres per capita daily”(lpcd). I can say that it is possible to live with a quota of even 90 lpcd ( I have tried it out myself).

First measure your consumption

I have worked with a few RWAs who wanted to monitor water consumption and were willing to spend money to get some realistic data. The results showed that the actual consumption was anywhere between 200 to 450 lpcd!! Another interesting figure that became clear when doing these studies was that approximately 20 to 30% of the homes accounted for almost 80% of the consumption. Currently, RWAs charge each flat an amount for water useage which is simply total water useage & cost divided by number of apartments. In this situation, it is the careful, frugal users of water who subsidise the heavy users of water. This has lead to unpleasant confrontations amongst residents and created the awareness that water consumption to each and every apartment/villa must be monitored by installing a water meter for each flat and apartment.

Then improve

By installing Water Meters, association can mandate charges to be collected on actual useage using a slabwise tariff which makes it very expensive for users of large volumes (in fact such charges should be punitive and thereby penalise profligacy in water use). Single homes like the one I live in who get Cauvery water from BWSSB which gives a water connection through a water meter. Users have to pay for every 1000 litres of water consumed slabwise. Depending on the slab the rate per 1000 litres doubles and triples as the slab goes up. It is therefore highly essential that apartments spend the money that will be needed to meter the water supplied to each apartment. Better still, the state government should enact laws which make it compulsory for builders to design and install plumbing to supply water to every apartment with a single water meter.

I have on occasion given presentations on the water situation to certain RWAs who wanted to create awareness on water amongst their residents. After such presentations there is usually a question from some economically well off persons saying that they are prepared to any price to get water, but my reply has always been that such individuals are in a minority and that when the water crunch hits the city, water will not be available for love or money, so, once again I urge residents of this city to REDUCE their usage of water.

To be continued in Part-3.

About the author
Mr. S.S. Ranganathan, author of this series of guest posts, is a retired senior executive of Ion Exchange and currently a freelance Water Management Consultant based in Bangalore. His blog at “India Water Portal” explains the work he does in detail. He can be reached at +91-93437-34229.

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This article aims at providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely of Mr. S. S. Ranganathan and NOT of ApnaComplex or its representatives. We suggest to post your queries or comments below and Mr. Rangathan can answer them at his convenience.

ApnaComplex presents thoughts of Mr. S.S.Ranganathan, a retired senior executive of Ion Exchange and currently a freelance Water Management Consultant based out of Bangalore, on the Water Crisis looming in the City of Bangalore and the solutions that can adopted, especially by the Gated Communities.

Below is part-1 in the series of 3 parts of the thoughts.

Does Bangalore Face a Waterless Future?

There is a distinct possibility of this becoming a reality in a few years. In early 2010, I happened to see the front page of the Deccan Herald dated 27^th March with the Headline “City may become unliveable in 5 years” (reference to the article) which appears to have been prompted by the elections to the BBMP which were about to take place the next day. The article was based on the Study by Indian Institue of Sciences’ Energy & Wetland group at the Centre for Ecological Sciences. Take a good look at what this study says under the heading “Ecological Degradation”. The statistics are mind boggling and, for someone like me, entirely realistic, I believe Bangalore does indeed face a waterless future, and, the worst affected will be the residents of apartment complexes and gated communities.

The number of calls I get from Residents Welfare Associations (RWA) has increased substantially over the last one year. In almost every case the Association has either bore wells with drastic reduction in water yield or which have gone dry. All of them have been forced to switch over to water supplies from water tanker operators, and, they are finding that the monthly water expenses of each family are as high as Rs.2000/- to 2500/- per month!

Worse still, after paying such high prices for water, they can not be sure of the quality of the water they are getting nor the quantity. Summer is here now and water demand will soar to dizzy heights. The result will be steady increases in the cost of water supplied by tankers. I am just re-stating what is reported frequently in newspapers and magazines, the water table in and around Bangalore has dropped drastically and will even turn the tanker operators’ wells dry.

Why are we in such a precarious Position?

In the year 1946, the water table in many parts of Karnataka and in Bangalore was just 8 metres below the surface. Today, practically all bore wells drilled are forced to go down to depths of 400 to 500 metres to find water in insignificant quantities. More often than not, bore well drillers find no water even after they reach these depths. Water pumped from such depths contains very high levels of minerals (known as total dissolved solids, i.e., TDS). These levels are beyond the acceptable limits as laid down in BIS-10500 which is the Indian Standard for drinking water. The cost of purifying this kind of water would be prohibitive. Add to this the electricity required to pump water from such great depths. The power consumption would be so high as to make the whole exercise economically unviable.

Bangalore is developing at a phenomenal rate and this means that population growth & built up area is increasing as rapidly and thereby preventing rain water from percolating down in to the ground to re-charge the water table. At the same time daily water demand is rising fast. A few years ago I had seen a report in the Newspapers about a study made by the Ministry of Water Resources that showed that 7 states in the country had exploited their water resources to a point of no return and Karnataka is one of them.

What can be done to improve the situation?

Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) is one thing that the entire area covered by the BBMP needs to put in place without further delay. The concerned authorities have done very little to make this happen, and, the government too is to blame for not having made RWH mandatory with severe penalties for not implementing RWH. Chennai and the whole state of Tamil Nadu had to implement RWH state wide or face severe penalties. This was the dicktat of the then Chief Minister and this has helped the state and very definitely the city of Chennai. Since it happens to be my home town and I visit it very often, I know that the water table is rising steadily. In 2009, after the rains, it had risen by as much as 5 metres, quite the opposite of Bangalore! I have seen wells where the static depth of water has risen and what is more, the quality of water has improved in many parts of Chennai and is now drinkable with just filtration or boiling to make it safe.

I believe our state Chief minister needs to emulate the former CM of Tamil Nadu and make it happen. I have been approached last year by many Resident Welfare Associations to help them implement RWH. Once they received proposals for installing RWH, they back off saying that it was too expensive. Little do they realize that when they have only tanker water left as a source, it will be so expensive that the cost of installing RWH will seem trivial in comparison. Tanker supplies will get costlier steadily as the water available for Bangalore becomes scarce.

In such a situation, I can only point out that the best thing to do is REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE. There is simply no other option since there is simply not enough ground water that can be used, nor can we hope for extra water from the Cauvery since the quota of water awarded to Karnataka which included a specific volume of water for Bangalore which is being utilized fully. There is just no water to spare.

To be continued in Part-2 and Part-3.

About the author
Mr. S.S. Ranganathan, author of this series of guest posts, is a retired senior executive of Ion Exchange and currently a freelance Water Management Consultant based in Bangalore. His blog at “India Water Portal” explains the work he does in detail. He can be reached at +91-93437-34229.

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This article aims at providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely of Mr. S. S. Ranganathan and NOT of ApnaComplex or its representatives. We suggest to post your queries or comments below and Mr. Rangathan can answer them at his convenience.

Rain Water Harvesting (or RWH) is the latest mantra that’s catching on in every cooperative housing society. Water is scarce, and saving rain water is one of the best ways in which this scarcity can be met and fulfilled. Rain water can be directly collected and stored through tanks during the monsoon season under rain water harvesting, or this method can also be used to replenish the ground water supply.

 

The Necessity

Rains during the monsoon are irregular, especially in India. Some monsoon months bring torrential rain, whereas others bring very sparse showers. Conserving water and saving water for daily use becomes essential for this reason, so immediate steps should be taken to capture and store large quantities of rain water.

This can be easily done with the help of a few structures that every cooperative housing society should have. Rain water harvesting is becoming commonplace, so a cooperative housing society with a good RWH system can ward off problem of water scarcity better.

Structures That A Cooperative Housing Society Should Have

There are two ways to store rainwater:

• Rain water can be collected in tanks and used whenever required
• Rain water can be collected and redirected to replenish that groundwater supply

The latter option is a better idea, as it will serve the community as a whole. Structures that can be constructed in a cooperative housing society for this purpose are:

Dug Wells

Dug wells or water wells can be used to recharge the groundwater supply. These wells are open structures, though, and proper care should be taken to filter the rain water before it is diverted underground.

Pits

Pits can be used to recharge underground layers of water, and these recharge pits are generally filled with stones. This will help filter the water, and it will also serve as a safety measure. Pits are safer than dug wells, which are open structures and can be dangerous when kids are around.

Recharge Wells

These are forms of wells that are used to pump water into aquifers that are underground. This is another way of recharging the groundwater supply. It should be noted that these wells are also known as injection wells.

Trenches

Trenches can be created all around the cooperative housing society in order to save water. Rather than leaving a trench open, filter materials can be used to ensure that the water which reaches the underground aquifers is clean. Trenches are not as dangerous as dug wells, as these are just a meter deep.

Shafts

Lateral shafts can be constructed along with a couple of bore wells in order to recharge the groundwater body. These shafts are not dangerous as they’ll be filled with pebbles, gravel and sand for filtration purposes.

These structures can be constructed in a housing society, once a consensus is reached on Rain Water Harvesting and its importance. The housing society can potentially enjoy uninterrupted water supply even during the driest summer months in this way.

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This article aims at collating and providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. While ApnaComplex has taken every care to ensure the information is accurate, we suggest to please use it only as a guidance for further discussion and action with help of relevant professionals.