Initiatives Taken By Housing Societies In India For Conservation of Water

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Initiatives Taken By Housing Societies In India For Conservation of Water

Despite the fact that 71% of the Earth's Surface is covered with water, water scarcity is one of the most serious concerns across the world. Almost 1.1 billion people worldwide struggle for water and 2.7 billion people find water scarcity at least once a month. These statistics suggest that water scarcity is going to be the biggest problem in the coming time, and this emphasizes the need to manage water conservation.

With the growing population rate, water conservation is the only way to preserve the water for coming generations. As of today, only 3% of the earth has freshwater, and 0.5% is available for drinking. The rest of the water is locked in ice caps, glaciers or too populated to consume. 

Water conservation means using the water wisely, including drinking, cooking, sanitization, washing clothes etc. Since each of us depends on water to sustain life, it's our responsibility to save water and learn more about conserving water. 

The Indian Government, with most housing societies in India, has already started water conservation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to save water through his program “Mann ki Baat”. It shows that the Indian Government is encouraging individuals, housing societies, industries and other sectors to contribute to saving water.  

In order to do this, most of the Indian housing societies have already implemented water conservation. If we look into the reports, we find two Mumbai housing societies have started water conservation and recycle one lakh liters of wastewater daily. Hiranandani Heritage, a residential complex with 436 flats, is one of the societies where the society’s management committee association (MCA) took the initiative to install water-saving nozzles at the kitchen sinks and washbasins across all the houses to reduce excess wastage of water. It is estimated that society is saving 28 lakh liters of water through this water conservation initiative. 

Another example of water conservation can be seen in ‘The Green’ society, a 10-yr old apartment complex with 171 flats in Bangalore, where two individuals took the initiative and suggested the housing society take active steps to recycle, reduce and hold flats accountable for their usage. 

The society came up with three solutions to save water and installed flow meters in each house, a sewage treatment plant to plumb water and harvesting rainwater. 

Water conservation is necessary considering the ongoing water crisis that affects nearly 1 million people each day. Housing societies are the best way to start with water-saving as water consumption is huge in such places. The Indian Government has also taken the necessary steps to save water. The Government has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) intending to improve the water condition in the areas having bad water conditions. Besides this, several other programs run by the central government to control water depletion and promote rainwater harvesting, such as National Water Policy (NWP) etc. 

Since the Indian Government and housing societies took the initiative to control water wastage, individuals should also contribute to water conservation. Following are initiatives that individuals can take in their residential complex, societies and areas. 

Install Smart Water Meter

Smart water meters can track the water consumption in your home. With this, you can record the water usage in your home and encourage yourself to use less every month. It has been estimated that it saves up to 35% of the water. 

Get Smart Cleaning Equipment

If not for individual homes, smart cleaning equipment can be used in large premises like schools, hospitals, marriage halls, or roads to mop the floor. Smart cleaning machines are water-saving and save up to 50% water needed to clean large common areas like residential buildings, railway stations etc. 

Switch to High-efficiency Appliances

Regular washing machines use plenty of water, but low water washing machines claim to cut down annual laundry water by 30-40%. Also, using a dishwasher in homes or restaurants is the best practice to save water. 

Think About Rainwater Harvesting 

Rainwater harvesting is an old practice and has been followed since ancient times. But now, it is done in advanced ways, like the water collected on the rooftops can be directly filtered and sent to the tanks and then used for multiple purposes. However, it can be done on different levels where the size of the plant may vary. If you live in an individual house, you can also do it on a personal level at your rooftop or in the garden. 

Try Green Landscaping  

Your personal kitchen garden or lawn or society's garden does not require fresh water every time. You can use conserved water to water your plants. Try Xeriscaping your garden, which involves growing low water consumption shrubs and plants which can be alternatively water. You can also use greywater to water plants. 

You can keep the underground sprinkler system for emergency use only or for high-value plants and flowers. This will save huge amounts of fresh and drinking water and use conserved water for watering plants. 

Thus, by taking these measurements on water conservations, you can save liters of water a day, week, month and year. Saving water or using it in a limited amount will save your future generation from water depletion. So make sure the water systems around you are efficient to save water. 

We know the government or an individual will not be able to do this alone. Water conservation is a huge responsibility and needs to be understood by individuals. So Green Clean Indiais taking the initiative and contributing to the Indian Government in water conservation. We aim to make our India green, clean and safe from the polluted environment and spread awareness of the importance of saving water. We want more and more Housing societies to join us. If you want to join us or are seeking more details, please feel free to drop a mail at wecare@greencleanindia.com. 

Green India, Clean India!