Barely weeks from a scorching summer, Bengalureans are deeply worried about a perennial problem that just does not seem to go away: Drinking water woes. Can a smart water-pricing strategy boost conservation or is a separate law the only way to give it some teeth?
Many water experts will tell you this for the failure of conservation efforts so far: Despite the enormous costs involved in pumping Cauvery water from over 120 kms, it is supplied at ₹7 per kilo litre in the city. “For a thousand litres, you are paying just ₹7-8. That is cheap, and people don’t feel the pinch. There is no limit in supply, and there is no incentive to save water,” as Senior Scientist A.R. Shivakumar, a Water Management Advisor to multiple State Governments, puts it.
However, this would have to be put in the context of treating water as a public good. “This call for monetizing water beyond a certain slab is also linked to deliberately creating scarcity. Obviously, things like rationing will have to happen. And like in electricity, you may want to ensure that there is no wastage by educating people, rather than just letting the economy take over,” says water activist Kshitij Urs.
A law for water conservation
The city seriously lacks a law that mandates water conservation. “It is free for all now. If you want to use one lakh litres a month, do you think there is any restriction? No. You have the ability to pay, you pay and get it. Conservation measures should be enforced for every house, every apartment, institution, hotel and every industry,” says Shivakumar.
So, how should consumption be measured and what is the pricing strategy to adopt? Srikant Narasimhan, Bengaluru Navanirman Party (BNP) General Secretary and Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF) Founder, has a suggestion: “For an individual house with five to six people, the rough water usage should be about 500 litres per house per day. This means 15 kilo litres a month, of which only 30% should be Cauvery water.”
The rate should be kept low for anything less than 5 kilo liters of Cauvery water per house, he points out. “Currently, they charge apartments a flat rate of ₹25 per kiloliter, which is exorbitant and ridiculous. There should be a proper slab structure, with low rates for 0 to 5 kl and 5 to 10 kl. Let the rate be ₹50 or ₹60 for more than 10kl. That is how you should penalise over-usage,” Srikant explains.
Ration water, treat overuse as luxury
Shivakumar calls this rationing. “Instead of giving whatever water consumers want to use, you restrict supply. Treat anything beyond the World Health Organisation (WHO) mandated volume, as a luxury. Charge them Rs 100 or even Rs 150. Then there will be an incentive for them to go for Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) and other conservation methods such as aerators. People will, for instance, think twice before standing under a shower for a longer time,” he says.
One of the best conservation methods is to price it correctly, agrees Vishwanath Srikantaiah, a noted specialist in the water conservation field. “There is a willingness to pay, but no willingness to charge. Unless we get our act together and get the true cost of water, it will not be conserved. By merely appealing to the good sentiments of the people, it doesn’t get conserved. So pricing is crucial.”
In Kshitij’s view, however, “monetising water would be counterproductive. “But having said that, the largest context is to democratize the process of water security and right to water, which comes only by ensuring conservation is not just about using an efficient tap but conserving your lakes,” he explains.
He draws attention to Dharwad and Belagavi, where privatization happened in the name of 24/7 supply. “People who could afford it actually wasted a lot of water. They said they would pay for it and wash their cars, while people in the slums were deprived because they couldn’t pay.”
Some water for all, not all water for some
Distribution is another issue. “There is a lack of distributed justice. Some water for all, not all water for some. That should be the philosophy to drive us. We should look at universal connection and a democratic reporting at ward level. That every household in the ward is connected to the water supply network and it is getting some water. Of course, there is a costing issue in outer wards, because initial connection cost is the largest barrier to water connections,” says Vishwanath.
At the community level, rainwater harvesting systems have been set up in many apartments although there is no way to track their numbers. Other conservation methods such as groundwater recharge pits, individual house water-metering and Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) treated water for car-cleaning and gardening are being implemented. But these are yet to make a big impact at the larger city level.
“Rain Water Harvesting helps in keeping the apartments less reliant on outside sources of water,” says Srividhyaa Murali, a Federation member. “Many apartments, on their own, have installed water meters and it has a significant impact on reducing the consumption. Once people can see how much they are spending for water for their own household, they take steps to reduce the cost by reducing consumption,” she notes.
Vendor carrying packaged drinking water cans for distribution, due to the rising demand, as the summer hot day set in much early, in Bengaluru on January 30 | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K
Water aerators: tap-level conservation
Water aerators have emerged as one of the simplest solutions. “Many apartment committees provide water aerators to residents or insist that residents install aerators which reduces the flow of water per tap. Besides, many apartments have STPs with dual piping in which treated sewage water is sent back to flushing the toilets. This reduces the amount of fresh water needed,” informs Srividhyaa.
The inexpensive supply has, however, made many consumers lax about water utilization. Srikant elaborates, “The globally accepted norm is to use 135 litres per person per day, but we all end up using 300 per person per day. Typically, in Bengaluru, we use 300 to 400 litres per person per day. I actually take a bath with five to six mugs of water. Even half a bucket of water makes a huge difference, provided everybody does it.”
Reviving ‘Half Bucket Challenge’
In March 2019, BAF with over 70,000 flats and two lakh residents had actually launched a ‘Half Bucket Challenge” to address the acute water crisis that year. The challenge was to bathe with only half a bucket. This applied to toilet flushes too. As he notes, “Many of them come equipped with only one button. There should be two. One which entirely flushes out the water, and a smaller one that releases only that is needed.”
The Federation has now proposed to revive the challenge this year. CoFounder Arun Kumar says, “This summer is going to be harsh on us. Water levels are really low. You don’t need a bathtub, or a shower going on relentlessly, you can have a good bath with half a bucket of about 25 litres.”
Treated water, a growing resource
To see these efforts really make an impact, conservation should go hand-in-hand with a willingness to use treated waste water. This is possible, says Vishwanath, because the city has enough and more treated waste water. “Thanks to the NGT (National Greens Tribunal), the treatment quality has improved in several STPs. For example, at Jakkur or Vrishabhavathi Valley STP, they treat the wastewater to drinking water standards. But it is being let off to the drain,” he points out.
The tertiary treated water meets the BIS 10500 drinking water standards, he notes. “So, if you are able to put that to productive use, we won’t even have a resource scarcity. We should draw up a plan to reuse it indirectly. Fill up the lakes, allow it to recharge the aquifers, pick it up from ground water, treat it and supply it as drinking water, so that the yuck factor is taken care of.”
He estimates that the tertiary treated water volumes in Bengaluru is now more than 200 Million Litres per Day (MLD), including the output from Vrishabhavathi Valley STP, Jakkur STP (15 MLD), Cubbon Park (4 MLD) and Raja Canal (40 MLD). Besides, several apartments are now keen to either sell their excess treated water or supply it to the construction industries. They are now in talks with multiple civic agencies to also use the treated water in parks, bus washing and for other utilities.
Currently, the city’s drinking water requirement is met by 1,450 MLD supplied from the Cauvery, and about 700 MLD from groundwater resources through borewells. This is expected to be boosted by another 775 MLD once the Cauvery V Stage is commissioned in April this year.
