A residential apartment of 100 flats has succeeded in breaking a great
psychological barrier: They have pioneered in using recycled water for
drinking. Unlike other apartments where treated water is being used for
non-potable purpose, this apartment off Sarjapur Road has installed 11
filters to get clean water and has also won the confidence of the
inmates by conducting a blind test.
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| Article & Image courtesy : Bangaloremirror.com |
Just like any other apartment
society in Bengaluru, TZED Apartment was facing a serious water shortage
problem. The society was buying 10 tankers of water each day around
three years back. Even after buying so much water, the apartment had to
resort to water rationing to make sure there was sufficient water to
use. The apartment shut water from 11 am to 4 pm, and from 1 am to 4 am.
Desperate to get a solution for the problem, two residents decided
to track the whole cycle of water that comes to their apartment. Alok
Kuchlous and Srinivasan Sekar found out that the water their apartments
got is from Varthur Lake. But the water from the Sewage Treatment Plant
(STP) in their apartment also goes to the same lake.
The duo then
started working on a method through which they could create a closed
loop system for the water flow within their society - basically, they
wanted to create the same cycle within the society instead of allowing
it to go to the lake and then receive the water from there.
Srinivasan Sekar, 45, said, "After going through a lot of literature on
water purification and meeting various experts, we finally came up with a
system to solve the issue. The society had a STP plant functional, we
also had a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant. We were using the RO plant to
purify the tanker water before it comes to our houses. Water from the
STP was being used to water the gardens, wash cars etc. We added a small
system to these two plants. We connected the treated water to the RO
plant. We also added 11 different kinds of filters to purify the water.
Finally, the treated was fit to be used for drinking purposes."
The
total cost to the society to set up the project was Rs 2,50,000 which
came to Rs 2,000 per family. However, the bigger challenge was now to
convince the members that this is just as good as normal drinking water.
Alok Kuchlous, said, "How can we drink water that was once mixed with
shit? Are you sure there is no health risk? Is this the only way out
now? Do we really need to go down to such a level to save money? These
were some of the questions asked to us by the members. We had two ways
to tackle these questions. First, we asked them 'Do you know where the
tanker water is coming from?' We explained to them that with the setup
being installed we would be able to see where the water comes from. We
even took members to Varthur Lake and showed them how dirty the source
of the tanker waters is."
As a final resort, and to get every house
on board, the society did blind tests. Srinivasan, said, "We realised
until people know it is treated water their thoughts about it would
never go. So we directly started pumping the RO treated water without
informing the owners. After they used it for a day, we asked them was
there any difference in the water. We repeated this several times and
finally told the members about it. This was when all the members finally
agreed."
The society generates 60,000 litres of RO purified water each day.
Around 30,000 litres comes out as RO reject which is used for washing
cars, flushes and watering gardens. The water cost for the society is
now just Rs 8,000 annually. This amount is used only to conduct regular
lab tests, to keep a check on quality.
Srinivasan said, "No, water
can never turn into waste! Even now the RO reject water is being used
for trees and plants. Nothing goes waste. When people accept this,
treated drinking water will also be accepted by them. It is just
psychological barrier that stops citizens from trying this method. Once
more societies take it up, the city's water issue will be solved."
source:Bangalore mirror
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