People don’t save water till shortage hits them hard

Rainwater harvesting, Bangloreans have been told time and again, will save the city from water woes in the future. While setting up water-harvesting structures has not yet become fashionable, there are many who have hitched on to the rainwater harvesting (RWH) bandwagon. There’s only a small problem here — not many know how they function, and few of these structures are monitored.

Few know this better than Jeff D’Lemos, a retired engineer who has been working on RWH in the city for 44 years. The “water man of Bangalore” believes that not many check or monitor RWH plants. The fact that most projects he undertakes are for repairing or rebuilding existing plants that have become defunct explains the shoddy state of affairs.

“Some people have made it a means of earning a fast buck; just fix a few pipes and then forget about it. People should know that it is important to keep monitoring RWH structures and falling on the feedback from users,” he says.

Things don’t work by themselves; and precautions are often needed, especially when it comes to RWH plants, emphasises D’Lemos. “People should ensure that roofs are clean. The first few minutes of rainfall which has the dirt can be prevented from entering the borewell with a valve. A filter should also be used,” he says. “We try to make it as simple as possible for the people. Different houses need different kinds of arrangements, and we also have to keep in mind the aesthetics of the building.”

A well-functioning plant, needless to say, can do wonders. Rohan Vasantha apartment near Marathalli, which has RWH systems built in five of its blocks with help from D’Lemos, stored more than 35,000 litres of water last week.  D’Lemos feels apartment complexes can emulate this and minimise their water problems of the future. “Apartments have huge roof areas and a lot of rainwater can be collected. Moreover, apartments usually have water filtering units and these facilities can be used to create a very efficient RWH plant.”

Efficiency is the key, and so is planning. Elanie Norohna of Prashant Layout in Whitefield was worried a few years back when her borewell dried up. She sought help from D’Lemos and has not faced problems since. “Many people had started digging borewells here and the water level kept going down. Now I am happy, wait the water saved.” Norohna uses rainwater to replenish both the borewell and the sump.

D’Lemos, now in his seventies, is a bundle of energy, and travels throughout the city. But he is also worried at the rate at which the groundwater tables have been depleting. “Earlier we used to get water at a depth of 150m but now you have to dig up to 1,500m. This is alarming,” he says.

There are other issues too. “The rainwater will not always recharge the groundwater table in Bangalore as the clay soil layer will not let it percolate further. So most of the rainwater simply overflows. The only solution is to channel the rainwater directly into borewells, wells and sumps.”

The man, who has seen it all, signs off with a warning. “People of Bangalore will not easily realise the importance of saving water unless water shortage hits them hard. It is better we start gearing up now than suffer later.”