Bengaluru: At this juncture of water scarcity across Karnataka, with farmers affected and throats parched, here is a senior scientist who is doing fine without a water connection! Thanks to rain water harvesting, he is able to use the treated water not only for bathing and washing, but also for drinking purposes.
A R Shivakumar, a senior scientist at Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology has not paid water bill for the last 22 years! This has been possible because he designed a green home 20 years ago with a water harvesting system that yields more than 400 litres of water daily.
“Bangalore normally receives around 900-1000 mm of rainfall excepting the last couple of dry years. The amount is enough to collect 2.3 lakh litres of water a year. But 2.3 lakh litres is far more than enough for an average family of four. With proper planning, tanks can be built in a standard 40/60 feet plot to store more than what a small family needs. There is about 90-100 dry days between two successive rains in Bangalore. Based on that calculation, we have a storage capacity of 45000 litres! We effectively need only around 40,000 litres,i.e., 400 litres a day for 100 days. But we have 45,000 litres for emergency “, NDTV quoted him saying.
The senior scientist’s work revolves around renewable energy and rainwater harvesting. Further, he says that his family uses 400 litres a day. “In a year, we need only 1 to 1.5 lakh litres but so much more than we require is available bt adopting this technology,” he added.
Shivakumar does remember to convey despite all this, the use of water must be judicious. Recycling plays a big part like collecting water from the kitchen sink in a can placed outside to using water from the washing machine to flush toilets. The water harvesting system is simple – water from the sloping roof is collected in underground tanks, where the purification process happens.
Shivakumar’s family equally supports him. Water conservation has become a way of life for his wife Suma, his son Anoop and daughter-in-law Vamika.
