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Conservation - Reducing Water Usage
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Water-efficient sugarcane farming in Belgaum, Karnataka
Posted on 17 Feb, 2010 04:28 PMSuresh Desai is a founding member of an Organic Farmers Club in Belgaum District of Karnataka, India. It has 400 members, some of whom are already growing crops organically, while others are in the process of shifting to organic farming.
Since completing his matriculation, Suresh has been caring for the family property of 4.5 hectares, in an area where today sugar cane is primarily grown. For nearly a decade Suresh, as the manager of the farm, followed conventional practices relying on external inputs in the form of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Just like most of the other farmers near Belgaum, he grew sugar cane, a high water-demanding cash crop, and tobacco.
Water contamination footprint- A paper by Chetan Pandit
Posted on 16 Feb, 2010 01:27 PMGuest post by Mr. Chetan Pandit who works for the Central Water Commission, Government of India
This blog is a condensed version of the paper published in the 3rd Round Table on Sustainable Consumption and Production, organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forests jointly with UNEP, at New Delhi on 11-12 Feb 2010. The views expressed in this article are author’s personal views, and are not to be taken as the views of his employers.
In any discussion about Sustainable Development (SD) the quantity of consumption is invariably the main concern. Perhaps this stems from the original definition of SD as the “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", which invokes the spectre of insufficient quantities of resources at some time in the future. This concern is invalid for water, because water is a dynamic and renewable resource. Every hydrologic year brings a fresh packet of water. There is no way to use in this year, the rainfall that is yet to occur in the next year, or next decade. Moreover, any unused water will flow away to the oceans. The storages capacities, whether in surface storages or in aquifer, are adequate for one year only, at the most a little carry over for the next year. With many basins already reaching “water stressed” status, the problem at hand is how to supply the needs of this year, and there is no question of storing the water for future generations. Thus, in the context of water, quantity of water used should not be the primary concern for SD.
Save water from being flushed down-Thane Municipal Corporation adopts new method
Posted on 17 Jan, 2010 08:19 PMTo adopt method invented by a Thane resident, who used rubber bands, pins, bottle cap to save 25 to 30 litres of water a day
Every time you flush, six litres of processed water goes down the toilet. Even though it may not be required. Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) intends to arrest this wastage of water by suggesting a small modification in the flush tank. It costs less than Rs 5, but could save 25 to 30 litres of water for every household.
The modification was invented by 59-year-old Thane resident Sudhir Gawand, director of Thane Janta Sahakari Bank and former production manager with Sandoz India Ltd. Gawand said, “Ever since water scarcity became such a critical issue in the state I started thinking about ways in which we could save water. I realised we waste too much water with every flush and have little control over it.”
Gawand first modified his own flush tank with the help of a few rubber bands, pins and the lid of a plastic bottle. “Every time we push down the handle, the waterway opens up and the water gushes down the bowl till the stick inside the flush reaches its bottom. I have simply arrested this process and now the water flows only when we lift the tap,” Gawand explains his modifications.
After successfully modifying flushes at his house, he replicated his experiment at a nearby police station and his bank. When TMC learned about the concept, Chief Engineer K D Lala, visited Gawand’s house along with his team.
Impressed with the concept, TMC has now planned to conduct a demonstration of Gawand’s experiments at all their ward offices on Sundays. “Also we can plan to give a demonstration to individual societies if Gawand finds time. If all of the one lakh homes in Thane city adopt this technique, we will save more than 20 MLD water for the city,” said Lala.
HOW TO MODIFY YOUR FLUSH TANK
• Make a hole in any small plastic pet bottle lid and pass any electric wire through it which should be tied at the top end
• Tie other end of the bottle to the stick inside the toilet. Ensure that you have inserted flush tank lid through this wire
• To arrest the movement of the stick inside the flush tie it up with the rubber bands
The inside of a flush tank (above) and the knob (left) that Sudhir Gawand (far left) modified to help save water
Every time you flush, six litres of processed water goes down the toilet. Even though it may not be required. Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) intends to arrest this wastage of water by suggesting a small modification in the flush tank. It costs less than Rs 5, but could save 25 to 30 litres of water for every household.
Waterless urinals technology- An innovative solution to save potable water
Posted on 16 Jan, 2010 10:05 PM
Potable water has been a scarce resource and environmentalists are working day and night to save as much water they can. Many organizations are regularly putting their efforts to make products to save potable water.
Waterless Urinal is one such product available globally and has been mandatory to use in a number of countries. However, the technologies available so far were based on cartridge or oil seal that has high operating costs and regular maintenance; thus the product has not been able to get much support.
Now a new technology has been invented that has no cartridges, chemical requirements and has zero operating costs with no maintenance. These urinals were used in Beijing Olympics and have been approved by the Beijing Olympics Authority for their successful operation. The product has advanced nano-coating to make it anti stain and anti bacterial; providing better hygiene to users and innovative flap technology to control the odor. In India the product was introduced by a New Delhi based organization, a year back and has been tried and tested by different organizations so far.
Municipal Corporation of Delhi has already started installing these urinals for upcoming Common-Wealth Games to provide better civic amenities to visitors and general public.
For more information about the product visit – www.savewater.co.in
Potable water has been a scarce resource and environmentalists are working day and night to save as much water they can. Many organizations are regularly putting their efforts to make products to save potable water.
Workshop paper and poster abstract submission for World Water Week - Guidelines and information
Posted on 28 Dec, 2009 04:35 PMInvitation
Proposals for workshop paper and poster presentations for the World Water Week are welcome from experts and actors in different disciplines. The deadline for abstract submittal is February 15, 2010 . Abstracts are welcome on the specific workshop themes listed below and described on pages 10-13.
Workshop Themes:
- Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
- Shortcutting Historical Pollution Trends
- Water Quality for Human Health
- Improved Water Use Efficiency through Recycling and Reuse
- Management of Groundwater Abstraction and Pollution
- Minimising Land Use Based Pollution
- Resilience, Uncertainty and Tipping Points
- Origins, Pathways and Accumulation of Pollutants –
Water productivity - Approaches to understand and improve this concept
Posted on 08 Dec, 2009 12:21 AMIn a free market where efficiency and value for money are the driving factors, the consumers become conscious (and highly selective) in what they are buying and what they get out of it. Who would buy a less fuel efficient car or for that matter an electric appliance which consumes more electricity for the amount of work it does?
Findings of Basin Focal Project on the Indo-Gangetic basin
Posted on 02 Dec, 2009 02:34 PMNo! This title isn't mine. I borrowed it from Mahmoud Darwish's literary work of the same name.
Speakers and presentations of WHSC 2009 day 3 : Ashok Jaitly talks about the policy issues on water conservation
Posted on 26 Nov, 2009 03:58 AMAshok Jaitly, Water Resources Department, TERI
Policy issues in water conservation
Habil Attarwala, Furaat Earth Ltd., Gujarat
Isotope fingerprinting of Ganga Basin groundwater : A presentation by Prof P.S.Dutta of IARI
Posted on 25 Nov, 2009 05:43 AMOne of the most grippping and intensly scientific presentation at WHSC has been this one, by Prof. P.S. Datta of the Nuclear Research Laboratory, IARI. Groundwater can be studied in its entirety by profiling the isotopes of water.
Traditional techniques of water management - Interesting cases presented by Farhad Contractor & Rajendra Singh
Posted on 24 Nov, 2009 09:58 PMRajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh and Farhad Contractor of Sambhaav Trust, had