It has been reported that some of the major Indian cities will run out of groundwater by the year 2030. Further, another report suggests that the increasing population will double the demand for groundwater by 2030.
Who is to be blamed for it? The credibility of the escalated pace of drying up of water resources and their pollution rests in the hands of humans.
Government, organizations, NGO’s, communities and even some individuals are making efforts to compensate for the negative effect of human presence on the environment. One of the leading methods adopted by these people to conserve the groundwater is “Rain Water Harvesting”.
Rainwater harvesting is an ancient practice of collecting and using rainwater. It can help mitigate the depletion of groundwater levels. RWH plays a vital role in recharging the water table by reducing urban flooding & sending the water to the underground aquifers. It is a method that should be adopted by every single one of us.
The School of Water Warriors
In a similar attempt, The Trio World Academy school of Bengaluru is influencing its students to adopt RWH in life. The school aims to promote the ideology of conserving rainwater & using it to recharge groundwater tables. The school conducts several activities, which involves active participation from students in learning the water conservation process.
The school has set up two large RWH systems of which one system collects the rainwater from the roof while the other encompasses the land-based collection process. The water collected is used to water the gardens and plants in the school campus as well as recharging the groundwater tables. There are 12 pits in the school campus, which can collectively hold more than 100,000 litres of rainwater. The system was installed in 2017.
In a conversation with “The Better India”, schools managing director Naveen KM said “We strongly believe in rainwater harvesting because schools have a large catchment area. School’s campus consists of the large rooftops & huge playgrounds that can collect the rainwater. The RWH system helps in water augmentation in terms of groundwater recharge or storage but also acts as a flood control measure. It is an initiative to teach the students about rainwater conservation and in a small way giving it back to nature.”
Water-Saving Faucets
He also briefed about how the school management has installed water-saving faucets on the taps in the premises. Many times it happens that students leave the tap open while washing their hands. Water-saving faucets play a vital role in saving up to 60% to 90% of water usage. This also aids in saving hundreds of litres of water every month.
Emptying Water Bottles at the end of day
The school has kept large containers in the school premises. Students are asked to empty their water bottles in these containers at the ends of the day. This water is used in gardening and maintenance activities. This way, the school adds up another 50 litres of water every day in their water wallet.
As explained by the school authorities, they have been able to save around 50 lakh litres of water using these methods in the last two years. The amount of water is sufficient to fulfil the needs of a large group of people.
Banglore is amongst one of the top cities, which ran out of groundwater in July 2019 because of global warming, climate change and increased demand for water by industries and urban population. If strong steps are not taken, then Silicon Valley of India will permanently become “Zero Water Town”.
Vinod Singh, the principal of Trio World Academy says “Such initiatives on saving water and using recycled water in schools also help in learning about the harmful effects of microbeads (Micro, non-visible & non-dissolving particles of plastic present in water) in our water systems. It teaches and motivates us to care for and protect our natural waterways. Children are not only the future of our country but also a great source of strength when we want to mobilise masses.”
The school’s efforts have motivated several other schools to take part in water conservation activities.
Call for Action
On one hand, the increasing population of the country is resulting in an increased demand for water. Further, increased industrialisation and urbanisation is one of the major reasons for the pollution of water bodies. On the other hand, the increasing rate of human-made crisis such as global warming and climate change are another reason for the depleting groundwater level.
There is a sincere need to understand the criticality of the situation and start conserving water. Society needs to concentrate on ways to preserve rainwater by adopting rainwater harvesting. Apart from this, we need to change our habits to preserve water in our daily life as well. Global Warming and Climate change call for immediate and impactful action. The deed can not be fulfilled by one individual. We all need to understand our responsibility like the students, staff and management of Trio World Academy did.
