'Suncity Apartment' in Bangalore on
Cloud9 for water needs!
High
rise buildings have been popping up as consequent outcome of rapid economic
development and urbanization. Bangalore is a distinctive city known for its
canopy of lush trees that not only serve as homes to the fauna around but make
the new high rises, less of an eye sore. Nonetheless there aren’t any adjoining rivers
to provide for the city’s growing population. There are several thousand
families that migrate into the city each year; consequently there isn’t a water
source to gratify the growing dearth. Land sharks have encroached existing
lakes to set up residential buildings with high density living. High rise
buildings offer homes to the new populace but fail to provide the families with
an adequate supply of year round water. Increased water consumption is a great
concern to the city. It is predicted that nearly half of the city’s population
will have to be inevitably evacuated by 2023 if not for immediate measures to
make the city more eco-sustainable! With no customary sources such as rivers
and glaciers to meet the growing needs of the city, new means of water supply
has to be established.
At 11 stories high, the Suncity apartment is just another residential building with shortage of water for its 5000 residents. The Suncity apartment has been constructed on parts of the Belandur and Iblur Lake with no appropriate water supply. Excessive rains cause flooding in the apartment due to poor management of water. Sandeep Singh, a resident, weary of purchasing water from 120 tankers every day, proposed to take up Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) to counter the lack of water supply in the building.
“We were in great need of an alternative as a
BWSSB connection to get Cauvery water would cost us 2 crore rupees. We had
resorted to spending about 50,000 rupees every day for the water we import from
tankers”, he said.
On
researching the internet, he found abundant data on the KSCST website, which
gave Sandeep a deeper view into the working of harvesting. Inspired by it,
Sandeep approached the RWH helpdesk at KSCST in assistance. “The RWH team
conducted an awareness campaign for my fellow residents on the importance of conservation
and judicious use of it. The simplicity to harvesting rainwater had impressed
us all. There was an overwhelming response to the idea. The RWH team provided
us with a plan and every one of us contributed to build 3 large sumps and an
over head tank of 35,000 litre capacity. Ever since the number of tankers has
been reduced to 80 from 120! ”, he said. Although Rainwater only augments to
the water supply, it has made a big difference to these residents.
“We have
implemented RWH to the 15 out of 20 blocks in our apartment. The sumps for each
are interconnected and have been filtered using First Flush Lock (FFL),
ensuring the quality of the water. The water from tankers along with the
harvested water suffices the need of 1200 families. With RWH, 35% of our water
problems have been resolved. Although RWH can suffice only a part of our needs,
it can be used for domestic purposes without any treatment.
We have used FFLs
and pebble bed filters to keep it clean. AR Shivakumar and the RWH team were
instrumental and the residents of Suncity are extremely grateful to the
technical yet practical assistance that we have received” he explained. For a
heavy rain of 2hrs, 40000 liters of water gets collected in a day. During the
rainy season they save about 30-40 water tankers per day.
Water
problems are faced by many and RWH is the ideal solution. Intense demand for
housing inside the city and the acute shortage of available land leads to building
taller structures that provide cheaper homes than independent housing. This
leads to increased water consumption in a concentrated area and is a great
concern in view of its impact on the ground water table of the region. Green
buildings, eco-architecture and partially sustainable buildings are an answer
to achieve a favourable and healthy living environment and optimum use of
harvested rainwater is a way of alleviating the existing water scarcity
problems.
Story
by: Bhargavi, Sachin & Abinitha S Kumar
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