Water Conservation: Need of The Hour

Dr RK Chingkhei *

Almost dried up : The condition of rivers in Imphal City as on 22nd March 2015 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

Water is life. Water has been an important part of the evolution of earth that eventually led to the evolution of life. We all know that water is available on the surface of the earth in plenty (about 70% of the total geographical area of the earth is water). Though, there is plenty of water available, human beings have access to only a small portion. In spite of the fact that only a small part of the surface water is available for human consumption, we are recklessly misusing and over exploiting this life giving resource to such an extent that people are now talking about conserving it.

Water conservation simply means reduction in use of water, reuse and recycling of waste water for different purposes like domestic, industries and agriculture. In short it means to minimize wastage of water. Since the evolution of man the population has been rising and the demand for water is also increasing. This phenomenon along with the industralisation, urbanization and expanding agricultural activities has tremendously increased the demand for water.

In the name of industralisation and urbanisation the water resources has been overexploited for various activities. This led to the realization that we should use water wisely and conserve it. We can conserve water in various ways using various methods but before that let us first know the basic goals of water conservation.

The goals of water conservation include:

(i)Sustainability, that is ensuring availability of water for future generations also. In other words it means using only what is required and to leave something for the next generation.

(ii)Energy conservation: This goal is focus on minimizing the use of water and reducing the generation of waste water so that the energy required for water pumping, delivery, and wastewater treatment facilities could be reduced. For example, in our state Manipur also, it is a normal practice for most of the households to pump tap-water using water pumps (eg. Tulu); isn't it? If we reduce the operating time of the pump by few minutes then also we are reducing the use of energy (i.e. electricity) which is a step towards "conservation of energy".

(iii) Habitat conservation, i.e. minimizing uses of water will help in preserving fresh water habitats for local wildlife and migrating water fowl. To understand better let us take the example of Keibul Lamjao National Park located at the Loktak Lake which is the only natural habitat of the endemic and endangered deer "Sangai".

In this example the water level of the park area has been drastically disturbed by the construction of Ithai barrage such that the thickness of the "Phumdis" (floating biomass) has decreased which ultimately leads to the decrease in the area of natural habitat of Sangai. Another good example is the Nambul River that runs passing through the heart of the Imphal, the capital city of Manipur. In this case the river has been polluted by throwing the dirty household waste and other municipal waste by the local population which has drastically affected the fresh water ecosystem.

Ways of conserving water:

(a) Social Water Conservation: Some examples of social water are community pond, supplied tap-water (scheme water supply), rivers, lakes, public sanitation units etc. which are used or shared by communities or a larger population. Conservation of water at this level is initiated at the local level, either by municipal water utilities or State governments.

Common strategies include public awareness campaigns, increase water rates as uses increases, or restrictions on outdoor water use (e.g. lawn watering, car washing etc.). Cities in dry climates often require or encourage the installation of xeriscaping (type of landscaping and/or gardening that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation) or natural landscaping (also called native gardening, is the use of native plants, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are indigenous to the geographic area of the garden) in new homes to reduce outdoor water usage.

One good practice of conserving water at social level is the use of universal metering (like prepaid electricity supply system) in scheme water supply. Besides raising awareness to the consumer of their water use, metering is also helps in identifying and localizing the leakage of water. If water metering is successfully implemented society will be benefitted in the long run as it increases the efficiency of the entire water system, and helps in reducing unnecessary expenses for individuals for years to come.

This is quite possible because people will think twice before they waste water as they are bound to pay the extra charges. Eventually, the government will be able to monitor water usage by public, domestic and manufacturing services.

Yet some researchers are of the opinion that water conservation efforts should be primarily focused at farmers, giving the fact that crop irrigation accounts for 70% of the world's fresh water use. Agriculture being important component of a nation, both economically and politically, subsidies in water is quite common in many countries. Though subsidies is not fully practice in our country at large and our state in particular where water is used judiciously without any monitoring system, it is high time that we also understand the importance of water conservation and start adopting good conservation practices. Some other technology mentioned in the following paragraphs can also be used for conserving social water.

(b) Household Water Conservation: The amount of water that we use daily at our home, right from the time we wake up till the time we go to bed, varies from person to person depending upon the ways of usages. Most of the time, plenty of water is wasted unknowingly probably due to ignorance. If people are made aware of water conservation then large amount of water can be conserved and prevented from wasting. With the advancement in science and technology new water saving equipments and technology are being developed for home uses, some of which are listed below.

1. Low-flow shower heads sometimes called energy-efficient shower heads as they also use less energy. This reduces the amount of water without compromising the requirement. . Old shower heads are said to use about 22-45 liters per minute while the new fixtures are said to use about 11 liters per minute and offer equal water coverage.

2. Low-flush toilets and Composting toilets. A low-flow toilet is a flush toilet that uses significantly less water than a full-flush toilet. It uses about 6 liters or less per flush as opposed to about 13.2 liters. A composting toilet is a dry toilet that uses a predominantly aerobic-processing system to treat human excreta, by composting or managed aerobic-decomposition. These systems generally use little to no water. These have a dramatic impact in the developed world, as conventional western toilets use large volumes of water.

3. Dual flush toilets. It is two buttons or handles to flush different levels of water. It uses up to 67% less water than conventional toilets.

4. Faucet aerators. These devices break water flow into fine droplets to maintain "wetting effectiveness" while using less water. They also reduce splashing while washing hands and dishes thereby reducing the wastage of water.

5. Raw water flushing. This technology uses the raw i.e. non-purified or non-treated water like sea-water for flushing toilets. This reduces the energy consumption for treating the water.

6. Wastewater reuse or recycling systems, allowing:
* Reuse of greywater for flushing toilets or watering gardens, irrigation of landscape and constructed wetlands. Greywater is a type of household wastewater generated from plates and wash-hand basins, showers and baths, which is nearly as clean as potable water. Often it also includes wastewater from clothes washing machines and sometimes includes discharge from dishwashers and kitchen sinks.

* Recycling of wastewater through purification at a water treatment plant. This is comparatively costly and taken up as the last option when reuse of wastewater becomes impracticable. To be contd next issue...