Cry me a river….Abhijit Patnaik
DEAF EARS? Experts feel authorities should concentrate on water conservation to reduce demand, but those in charge consider big ticket investments such as dams and river inter-linking projects as the future of water security
DEAF EARS? Experts feel authorities should concentrate on water conservation to reduce demand, but those in charge consider big ticket investments such as dams and river inter-linking projects as the future of water security
A ll the water that will ever be, is, right now. A simple statement, yet so often forgotten. With the 340 million people living in cities across India expected to double by 2030, water use and waste discharge are expected to explode. Forcible `re-allocation’ of water between urban and rural areas is already causing serious conflict.
To prevent these from escalating, we need to manage water use in our cities better.
Excreta Matters, a recent report by the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE), details findings of a 71city survey on water management in India. The results should cause sleepless nights to all of us.
According to the report, mega projects such as dams, canals interlinking rivers and huge sewage treatment facilities are over-emphasised while conservation -be it domestic water usage, replenishing ground water resources, cost-effective and environmentallyfriendly sewage management or the protection of local water resources receive little attention.
“Laying more pipes and thinking that you will solve the water problem is nothing but a pipe dream,“ said Suresh Rohilla, a water expert at the CSE. Emphasis should also be put on sustainable water resource management. “Policymakers think like contractors -how do we build these mega projects? It’s as if there is an unwritten law that to increase water supply to a city, we have to go far away,“ he added.
Traditionally, cities such as Delhi and Bengaluru sustained their water supply from local lakes. As demand grew, supply needed to be augmented, and this has meant grand projects, such as the Tehri and Renuka dams to supply Delhi, and the Indira Gandhi canal to feed cities such as Jodhpur, were built.
The trend continues. For example, water for Agra through its future source, the Mathura-Vrindavan water supply scheme, will travel over 400 km. Narmada water from the Malia canal will travel a similar distance to Rajkot. Further the distance, greater the costs.
But not much focus has been given to curtailing demand.
“The problem stems from the cost of water,“ said Nitya Jacob, another water expert at the CSE. There is a huge difference between the cost of production and the user charges as they currently stand. For sustainable and affordable solutions, we need an information campaign, which teaches people about the real value of water.
Systems add to our woes. In Hyderabad, Bangalore, Udaipur and Bhubaneswar, over 40% of water is wasted in transfer and distribution losses, according to the CSE study. This automatically doubles production costs.
Simple solutions exist. Similar to the `star’ rating for electrical appliances, lawmakers need to devise ratings for kitchen and toilet appliances based on water efficiency -and financial incentives should be given to those who install more efficient products. According to some estimates, simply installing water efficient faucets and dual flushes can reduce household water consumption by a third. This, combined with `reuse and recycle’ techniques, especially for grey water from the kitchen, can lead to huge savings.
Chasing dreams of supplying water 24×7 to our cities won’t happen unless we start protecting our local water bodies and use a better a mix of technologies to promote efficiency. Hopefully this will happen before our wells runneth dry.
WATER PURIFICATION : THEN AND NOW
– 1748 Frenchman Jean-Antoine Nollet discovered that water naturally diffuses from a dilute to a concentrated solution, now known as osmosis.
– 1850 The treatment of water with chlorine began in London after a cholera outbreak.Chlorine is still used in most sewage treatment works today.
– 1878 Robert Barnstead develops the first all-metal distillation unit for Massachusetts General Hospital.
– 1916 Ultraviolet light treatment was first used to purify drinking in the United States.
– 1927 A Germany company begins selling ultrafiltration and microfiltration membranes to clean water.
– 1955 Electrodeionization (EDI) was first described as a method for the removal of radioactive materials from water.
– 1963 A research laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles, succeeded in developing asymmetric membranes for `reverse osmosis’.
– 2012Many experts predict that nanotechnology will become the standard of water treatment in the years ahead, potentially offering less expensive and more effective water purification methods.
PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES
Distillation
Distillation is probably the oldest method of water purification. Condensed vapor from boiled water is collected and stored.
Reverse Osmosis (RO)
RO uses pressure to push pure water to the other side of a filter. It is one of the most economical methods of filtration.
Ultrafiltration
Taking a step up, this microporous membrane filter removes particles according to pore size.
Electrodeionization
The process effectively removes ionic salts and minerals from water, using electrodes. The technology is a combination of electrodialysis and ion exchange.