Apartments take up conservation steps amid water crisis

The ongoing water crisis in Bengaluru, along with the government taking over water tankers, has left apartments and gated communities framing several new regulations for the conservation of water. While many communities are resorting to rationing, some have taken up steps like closure of pools and water pressure adjustment.

On Friday, after some private water tankers were seized by government officials, water resources were almost completely depleted in an apartment complex on Kanakapura Road. The apartment with 2,500 units needs around 150 to 200 water tankers a day. “We have around 75% dependence on water tankers. After that day’s incident, we started water rationing (cut off water supply) from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. We are trying to build our reserves and we are able to see 20% water savings. Additionally, we are also educating residents, closed the swimming pool and have stopped unnecessary activities which require water,” said a member of the apartment’s resident welfare association (RWA).

He added that while the crisis is not very bad, a glimpse of how bad it could be has acted like a wakeup call.

In a similar vein, another apartment complex in Kengeri has also planned to ration water during night and maybe replicate the same during the daytime, if it results in significant savings.

“Our plumber is also going to every house and checking for leaks and installing watersaving aerators,” an RWA member said.

Several apartments throughout the city have asked their residents not to wash their car multiple times a week, reuse water that is discharged from RO water purifiers for nonpotent purposes, refrain from activities which would require large amounts of water, among other things.

With Holi around the corner, some communities have also asked residents to celebrate the festival in a waterless manner this time.

“Although we are not entirely dependent on tankers and get a little bit of the Cauvery water, there are still a lot of restrictions within the community. We have been asked to celebrate Holi without water, wash cars only twice or thrice a week and even then, try to wipe it down rather than use water,” said a resident of a gated community in Whitefield.