Water wastage cause for concern

With water wastage in urban areas becoming a cause for concern, environmental activists have stepped up their demand for the reinvention of flush toilet.

At present, a standard flush toilet uses nine to 10 litres of water every time the cistern is pushed down. But, environmentalists dub it a massive wastage of water and argue that flushing does not require more than five-six litres. Hence, the emphasis is on developing flush toilets with minimal usage of water.

Participating in the World Water Day "" 2008 programme organised by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on Wednesday, Centre for Science and Environment Director Sunita Narain appealed to the scientific community to re-design flush toilets to reduce wastage of water.

Giving thrust to establishment of water treatment plants across the country, Sunita said: "Out of the 33,200 million litres of sewage discharged per day in the country, only 4,400 million litres is treated. That means only 13.5 per cent of the country's total sewage is treated."

Calling for a comprehensive water management strategy in the country, Sunitha said there should be a paradigm shift in using recycled water. "Operating technology for delivering water is expensive with losses built into the system. Longer the distance to transport water, higher the water losses due to transmission," she stated.

K Kasturirangan, MP and director of National Institute of Advanced Studies, felt that the sewerage network in the city should be improved. "Only 17 per cent of slum dwellers have adequate sanitation facilities. Considering that 34 per cent of the population in the city lives in slums, one has to look at it more seriously," he contended.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur, who inaugurated the event, said the BWSSB was the first and only water supply agency across the country to have completed a project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The BWSSB recently completed a project on drawing an additional 100 million litres of water from Cauvery for the city.

Thakur directed the BWSSB to implement the project aimed at reusing waste water for potable purposes as per schedule. The BWSSB is the only organisation in the country to secure approval for such a project from the Centre under JNNURM.