Smart living, Sourabha-style "Let Nature work overtime for you"

Smart living, Sourabha-style

Let Nature work overtime for you!

It was just another empty plot in Vijayanagar in Bangalore until it was turned into a glorious Nature-fed home. Its sustainable style continues to inspire green warriors

When ‘Sourabha’ is described as an environmentally responsible house, it makes me more than a little proud!
I was working on renewable energy concepts like solar water heaters, solar lighting and wind energy at the Karnataka State Council for Science & Technology when my wife Suma and I began actively planning our dream home.

 
We listed our needs — light, air and water — and we hoped, rather greedily, that Nature would fulfil all of them!
We wanted small ponds inside and outside because the moisture would keep the air cool. We wanted fish, tortoises and aquatic plants in these ponds.
We knew that painting the roof white would keep the house cool. But we spent sleepless nights worrying about how NOT to get the white dirty!
We pored over studies at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on heat sources and learnt that the major heat sources were the roof and the southern and western walls. So, we decided to move the living room away from these walls and plan the bathrooms or store room in this direction. Architects Sudha and Jayashree translated our dream in to action.
Armed with all this research, we launched ‘Project Sourabha’ in 1995 on a 40x60 plot in Vijayanagar.

We were certain that rainwater harvesting was the answer to our water requirements, even for construction. Yes, the house was built using harvested rainwater. We built the storage tank and recharge system first and harvested rainwater on the open site.
We sourced exterior paint — in bright white — that wasn’t harmful to rainwater harvesting but would last for 10 years at least and keep the house cool.

We studied the wind direction and planted a neem tree on the north-eastern side and a copper pod tree on the south-western side of the house to keep dust and pollution at bay. We planted betel leaf creepers and plenty of medicinal plants in our garden. On the terrace, we planted the Plumeria tree as it is a perennial. It has lovely white flowers and bright green leaves. It is commonly called ‘temple tree’ and grows wild in Bangalore. It is hardy and doesn’t require regular watering! We kept huge earthenware on the terrace which quickly became noisy bird baths. 

Magic with rain
Rainwater was channeled to three applications:
* Rooftop rainwater harvesting
* Rooftop rainwater channeled to recharge groundwater
* Percolation in the garden to recharge groundwater.
Eighty-five per cent of the rainwater that falls on the roof was channeled to the northern side of the house and allowed flow into a tank of 4500 ltr capacity, built on the ground floor roof. A PopUp filter and a stabilization tank, specially designed, filtered the roof water before storing it. The overflow of this tank was allowed to run down through rainwater pipes on the wall to an underground sump of 25,000 ltr capacity, built under the portico at the entrance of the house.

The excess rainwater was diverted to percolate into the ground through a system of percolation tanks/ infiltration gallery (4 used plastic drums interconnected and buried underground with their base cut open) to recharge groundwater.

The remaining portion of the roof water (15%) was allowed to rundown through rainwater pipe on the wall and a PopUp filter, installed at the ground level, filtered suspended and floating material.
Relatively cleaner water, after filtration, flowed to an underground sump of 10,000 ltr capacity, built under the car park (garage). Sump 1 and Sump 2, together with total capacity of 35,000 ltr, were interconnected and the stored rainwater was used during the non-rainy days.

Not a single drop of rain was allowed to go waste.
Till date, we have no Corporation or Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) water connection.

Clean and safe water is available round the clock, all through the year. The quality of water is also periodically tested and is found to be good.

Our drinking water comes from a process I developed myself using silver foil, but more on that you can find in the link: http://rainmanspeaks.blogspot.in/2014/04/zero-bacteria-drinking-water.html
Our electricity consumption is 80 kWh (units) a month.

During the day we get fabulous natural light. We have skylights, which allow sunlight to pour into the house. The light-coloured walls reflect the natural light. We do not use expensive curtains. Instead, we have ‘green curtains’ - creepers and palm fronds that block the view but keep the air circulating really well. We have solar lighting and solar electricity.

Forget air-conditioners, we do not use fans in the house!
The best part of living in ‘Sourabha’? Well, my wallet is safe! I don’t have any bills to pay apart from property tax!

So...... You want to be with NATURE and its resources, you can make nature to work overtime in your house (but do not abuse)! And also save money...

Rain story for kids - RAIN, RAIN, DON’T GO AWAY!

RAIN, RAIN, DON’T GO AWAY!

A short story on how to make every drop of water count

By AR Shivakumar

Ani:   Amma... (Panting) Give some water to drink! I am so thirsty. The football game was tiring!

Mother: Go on Ani, drink water from the tap.

Ani: The tap has sooooo.... much water!

Mother: Yes, you can drink as much as you want!

Ani: Where does the tap get water from?

Mother: From the tank on the roof.

Ani:  Where will the tank get water from?

Mother: From the underground sump.

Ani: ?????  Where does the sump get water from?

Mother: From pipes of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB)! Now, why this flood of questions, Ani?

Ani: ?????   Amma, where do the pipes get water from?

Mother:  The BWSSB has huge reservoirs that have been built in many places in and around the City. These reservoirs get water from River Cauvery.

Ani:  Where is River Cauvery?

Mother: It is about 100 km from Bangalore.

Ani:  Why can’t we pump all the water from River Cauvery to Bangalore? Then, we won’t have any water problems.

Mother: Our neighbouring state too depends on River Cauvery for its drinking water needs.

Ani: Where does River Cauvery get water from?

Mother:  The rain feeds the river. Rivers in South India are rain-fed, while those in the Himalayas are fed by glaciers.

Ani: Oh! It rains here too, doesn’t it?

Mother:  Yes, it does.

Ani:  If the rain feeds a river like Cauvery, why can’t the same rain fulfil our water needs? Why should we pump water from the river?

Mother:  We depend on piped water supply because we neither collect rainwater nor do we harvest it.

Ani: Mummy, why aren’t we harvesting rainwater in our house?

Mother: We should. Let’s talk to Papa about it.

  

The next morning

Ani:  Mummy, how can we collect rainwater?

Mother:  Ani, go and brush your teeth!

Papa: And once you’ve finished, come and read the newspaper with me!

Ani:  (taking the newspaper from Papa) ‘Karnataka makes rainwater harvesting compulsory’. Wow! Lots of people seem to be thinking about the rain. How do you harvest rain, Papa?

Papa: Ani, get ready for school now. You are running late! And, ask your Science teacher about harvesting rain!

In the School Bus

Ani:  Yesterday, I got a racing car as a return present at Sourav’s birthday party.

Sachin:  I missed the party.

Ani:  Why weren’t you there?

Sachin: My father was getting the sump at home cleaned. It was so dirty! As Papa was busy the whole day, he could not drop me off to Sourav’s house.

Ani:  How did you know that the sump was dirty?

Sachin: The water that came from the tanker supply was muddy, smelly and yucky!

Ani:  My mother said that we can drink rainwater. It is very clean – cleaner than tap water!

In School 

Ani:  Teacher, my father has asked me to find out about rainwater harvesting.

Teacher: Rainwater harvesting is a method of collecting rainwater and storing it for future use. The water from the roof can be guided to a storage tank through a filter.

Ravi: Can we drink rainwater?

Teacher: Yes, rainwater is the primary source of water for our rivers, lakes, wells and borewells. It is one of the purest forms of water. We can drink it as long as it is not contaminated by dust, bird dropping or litter.

Nikhil:  Can rainwater meet all our daily needs?

Teacher: Rainwater is Nature’s gift to us. There is a family in Vijayanagar that has been using rainwater for all their needs for 22 years now. I will organise a visit to a very special park in Jayanagar 5^th Block, where you will get to see the benefits of rainwater harvesting.

Ani:  Thank you teacher. We will tell our parents to harvest rainwater in our houses too.

http://rainmanspeaks.blogspot.in/2014/04/new-feather-in-cap-of-bangalore.html

Contact: 080 26653666, 080 23341652, 080 23348848

Your HOME a Science lab - “Bring out the Scientist in YOU”

Your HOME a Science lab - “Bring out the Scientist in YOU”

Where a wall is a Thermostat and Stabilizer sets curd

The coolest switch ever!

In my view, most of the refrigerators in this world are built for lefthanders!

I have modified (since 1996) my regular refrigerator to save electricity and enhance operational convenience! ‘Normal’ refrigerators have the doors hinged on the right side, which means you need to open the door by grabbing the handle with your right hand.

As most of us are right-handed, we don’t use our left hand to put in or remove containers/ fruits/ veggies. In the bargain, we tend to open the door wider than necessary and allow our right hand to do the job. In the modified refrigerator, I have merely switched the hinges of the door to the left and the handle to the right! Each time you open the door of a refrigerator, cooling is lost and electricity is wasted. With the modified refrigerator without any additional equipment up to 20 per cent electricity is saved.

Back to basics: Paint the town white to save power

On a clear day, a conventional dark roof can get significantly hotter than the outside air. A clean white roof, by comparison, is only marginally warmer than the ambient air. “A white roof brings down the temperature inside the house by at least two degrees,’’ The direct benefit of a cool roof is the saving in power consumption.

The relative temperature inside the house with white roof is lower.  A cooler roof means that the space beneath the roof needs less electricity for air conditioning, saving money and avoiding emissions of CO2 and other pollutants back at the power plant. Any bright white exterior paint, suitable for external walls, is what you need to paint your roof, may be once in 8 to 10 years.

Rat-trap walls

You’ve learnt about thermal control in Science class, haven’t you? Now here’s how you can put theory to practice and live the ‘cool’ life? Rat-trap walls in your house not only save costs (they save 40 per cent of bricks during construction), they also offer thermal comfort.

 It’s a common-sense design, where bricks are placed on edge instead of laying them flat. So, a 9-inch wall will have a 3-inch gap. The air gap inside the wall which is not visible from outside, works as an insulator; that means during summer, the heat outside will not permeate within and the house will remain cool. And in winter, the heat within stays trapped and keeps the house warm. This design is like a double-walled thermos flask, which keeps coffee hot and ice-cream cold. Rat-trap walls can also be the load-bearing ones, making pillars unnecessary.

Get your voltage stabilizer to set curd and ferment batter

If you have many voltage stabilizers in your house — one for your fridge, one for your music system and so on, here’s how you can make them work hard! Voltage stabilizers have built-in transformers that generate plenty of mild heat round the clock.

This heat can be used to set curd or ferment idli / dosa batter, especially in winter. Place a bowl of milk with the starter, or dosa / idli batter next to the voltage stabilizer, leave it all night and enjoy the surprise benefits. I even leave coconut oil bottles near these stabilizers in winter, and save myself the trouble of wrestling with the bottle for a few drops of oil! You don’t need to heat and disfigure the bottle or waste hot water to melt the oil inside.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Urbanization means that built-up area is increasing and open spaces, like courtyards, in houses are a thing of the past. Most modern apartments or houses have very few gaps for light and air to enter the house. So there are several nooks and crannies which never ever see natural sunlight! Don’t lose heart. Look for a place inside your house which gets bright sunlight and place a plain or acrylic mirror close to it. This mirror reflects sunlight from the source (a window or a skylight) and focuses it on the dingy corners. Without using artificial light, you can light up the dark recesses of your house.

Not a pipe dream, anymore!

Did you know that PVC or HDPE pipes are better than metal pipes for plumbing? Metal pipes tend to corrode and encourage scaling or salt deposits on the inner walls of the pipe. This blocks water flow over a period of time, leading to more electricity being consumed to pump the same quantity of water. PVC/ HDPE pipes are cheaper, they have a longer life and they come in the form of rolls, so they are convenient to fix.

No entry to cockroaches inside your house!

Normally cockroaches breed inside the sewage pipe line below the road running underground in front of your house.

They get entry to your house as the sewage lines are directly connected to your bath, toilet and other waste water outlets. A smart way to avoid the entry of cockroaches to your house is to cut the main drain pipe going out of your house and create a U water trap. Cockroaches cannot swim through 6 to 8 inches of waste water always standing in the U trap. 

Many more to come…….. allow the scientist inside you to think... 

Tall structures in Bangalore go higher and higher to reach the clouds and also Harvest Rainwater

“Tall structures in Bangalore go higher and higher to reach the clouds and also Harvest Rainwater”

RWH at Larsen & Toubro (L&T) South City

Silicon city is Known for its rich IT sector, which is attracting more people towards it, as the inflow of the crowd is increasing, there is a need for buildings to grow taller but the availability of basic needs are not catching up with the demand.

L & T South city with a campus area of 34 acres is a land mark in south Bangalore and also the tallest.

South city with 1998 apartments from 18 blocks has 12 acres land dedicated for roads, Parks and civic amenities. 

Water consumption is estimated at 13.5 lakh lts/day. The requirement of water is being met from multiple sources - BWSSB supply, Borewells, Tanker supply and Harvested Rainwater.

      Total Plot Area                                                           - 1, 37, 592 sq. m.

      Rainwater Potential from the plot                            - 133 Million liters

      Annual Rainfall                                                         -  971 mm

      Roof Area                                                                   - 15, 595 sq. m.

      Roof top annual rainwater potential                        - 13 Million liters

Rainwater harvesting systems have been installed as per the technical support of KSCST and the roof water is being stored in underground sump tanks. The over flow of the underground sumps is connected to low yielding borewells. 

Rainwater flowing on the surface is diverted to a pond created inside the plot. Water stored in the pond is being recharged in to the ground by creating accelerated recharge wells inside the pond. These accelerated recharge wells are created by installing precast cement rings as liners for the open dug wells.

Rainwater from the roof and the surface flow in the plot is effectively harvested for reuse in the south city apartments. The excess flow during very heavy rainfall is made to flow in to the Puttenahalli lake which is on the downstream of the plot.