Who Drained My Water?

In Aurangabad, 15 year old Gomati treks 2 kilometers, twice daily, to the nearest well to fetch water for her family. In the city of Latur, though water comes through pipes laid by the government, it reaches homes for only two hours, once every 15 days. The states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu constantly bicker about the release of water from the river Cauvery. The state of Maharashtra frequently resorts to drastic water cuts for industries in the face of water crises.

Maybe water flows 24x7 in your home and the possibility that it could just stop sometime soon is too far-fetched for you to consider. But the possibility is very real!

The Water Problem

According to international norms, a country is categorized as 'water stressed' when water availability is less than 1700m3 per capita per year and is classified as 'water scarce' if it is less than 1000m3 per capita per year. In India, the per capita water availability in the year 2015, according to government sources, was 1545m3; down from 5200m3 in 1951. We are, officially, a water stressed nation today.

Water stress happens when ‘the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use’. An estimated 2.7 billion people around the world are water stressed for at least one month of every year. India, with 4 percent of the planet’s fresh water resources and 16 percent of the world’s population, has always found it challenging to ensure that all its citizens have access to adequate clean water supply. This demand supply mismatch is more severe in urban areas where the per capita demand of 135 litres per day (lpcd) is more than three times the rural demand of 40 lpcd. According to projections by the UN, India’s urban population is expected to rise to 50% of the total population by 2050. This would mean 840 million people in the most water-starved parts of the country compared to 320 million today.

Even in areas where water is available, the quality of the available water is often poor. As per the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, 63282 habitations in rural India receive inferior quality of water supply. Census 2011 revealed that only 31 per cent households in India had access to treated water. An estimated 100,000 Indians die from water-related diseases. A UN report ranked India 120th out of 122 nations based on water quality.

It has been projected that per capita water availability in India is likely to reduce to 1401 m3 by 2025 and 1191 m3 by 2050. We are inexorably inching towards the water scarcity. As you can see, the problem is BIGGER than we think it is.

On an average India receives annual precipitation (including snowfall) of about 4000 billion m3. Out of this only 1123 billion m3 is utilizable (728 billion m3 from surface water resource and 395 billion m3 from ground water resources). In 2010 India consumed 710 billion m3 and Government of India studies estimate that this is likely to increase to 1180 billion m3 in 2050. This “progress” towards water scarcity does not even factor in possible adverse effects of climate change.

The major consumer of fresh water is agriculture. Estimates put the agriculture sector’s fresh water usage between 75% and 85% of availability. In comparison domestic (6%) industrial (1.3%) and power sector usage (0.3%) is relatively smaller.

While we get more water from precipitation than we need, the primary problem is that our agricultural and lifestyle practices have led to far greater run-off and wastage than ever before. Traditional agricultural practices helped recharge ground water each year but the increase of ground water usage and the exponential usage of chemicals to enhance productivity has impacted ground water recharge and ground water quality.

The water intensity of agriculture in India is poor. For example, according to the International Rice Research Institute, India uses 5000 litres of water to grow 1 kg of rice while China uses only 1000 litres. As India grows more food for its growing population, the demand on water will become crippling.

Two Silver Bullets

Hidden inside these alarming realities are possible actions that can mitigate the problem. We must first harness more of the precipitation we receive and adopt technologies to reduce the water intensity of our agriculture. These are our TWO SILVER BULLETS.

The combination of watershed development and micro-irrigation has the highest possible impact in reducing the water problem in India. Watershed development harnesses precipitation and enables ground water recharge. India has been practicing watershed development for more than 3 decades but the quality of work in many projects leaves much to be desired. Effective implementation can potentially double the availability of water for use. (Source: Detailed project report, Integrated Watershed Management Programme - Damoh, Mahindra Farm Equipment Sector, 2011).

Micro-irrigation helps to reduce the water used for cultivation by upto 40%. The demand for fresh water would come down sharply if all our crops were grown using this technology. The technology has been available to us for more than 30 years, yet penetration is lesser than 10%. The Government has tried to enable adoption by offering subsidies but increasingly the process of accessing subsidies has become a bottleneck and is coming in the way of greater adoption of this technology.

It is clear why watershed development and micro-irrigation are the two silver bullets that can solve the water availability problem. Man has been polluting water since time immemorial. The situation is dire simply because the amount of pollution has increased exponentially and the water bodies are seriously affected. Water borne epidemics, dwindling population of marine life, melting glaciers, et al are making us sit up and take notice. But this does not have to be the future reality.

We can make a difference

Here are 9 simple things EACH OF US can do to reduce wastage of water:
1. Stop taps from dripping. A small drip from a tap wastes 95 liters of water per day.
2. Add an aerator to a tap. This can save 9 liters of water per minute.
3. Use a dual flush toilet, the short flush mode uses 40% less water than the normal mode
4. Invest in water efficient washing machines / dishwashers. Save 50% water!
5. Use full loads in your washing machine. A machine with a 50% wash load can use 80% of the water used when the machine is fully loaded.
6. Turn off the tap when you brush or shave; better still, use a mug of water to clean the razor while shaving – save 6 litres of water each time you brush or shave.
7. Take short, sharp showers. A shower can use 6-45 litres of water per minute depending on the pressure used. Bathing from a bucket takes only about 15 litres of water.
8. Wash vegetables and fruits in a bowl and not running water. Reuse the water used to water your plants. That will save more than 3 litres each time.
9. Eat less water! Every grain has been cultivated using water. 50% of food cultivated gets wasted and the water used to grow the food goes down the drain!

You can make a difference outside your house too. See that leakages in the pipes are identified and repaired. Get the flowers / garden watered in the evening to reduce evaporation. Influence the installation of rain water harvesting in your homestead. Besides the initiatives you take at home you can also influence your workplace.

Water and Indian Industry

In India, industry is the second highest consumer of water. And demand for fresh water is on the rise. According to the ministry of Water Resources, consumption of water by industries will account for 8.5 and 10.1 per cent of the total freshwater abstraction in 2025 and 2050 respectively. Industry operations require water to run machinery and equipment, to use in products and packaging and for employees. Industry discharges water from its operations and must ensure that water is discharged in a treated, non-polluting form.
A FICCI study on Water Risks for Indian Industries (2012) found that groundwater is the major source of water for different industrial sectors across India. 55% of those surveyed used groundwater with or without some other source of water. Obviously this dependence on groundwater makes the industry very vulnerable to rainfall variations and the ability of the nearby ecosystem to recharge groundwater.

The good news is that the Indian industry on its part is realizing the importance of water, its conservation and management. For example, H2O to H2infinity is Mahindra’s clarion call to turn back the clock on water and return to a situation where it is available again in abundance. The Group harnesses more than 12 times the water it consumes, some of the factories harness water that covers more than 100 days of operation, provides micro-irrigation solutions to farmers to save 30 to 40% of water in their fields and has reduced the water used to produce a vehicle by 21% in the last 5 years within its factories.

Actions like these are fast gaining traction across the industrial sector. Corporates are undertaking detailed risk mapping, rigorous water-audits and implementing programs like rain water harvesting and reusing treated waste water. Innovative technologies like using enzymes or plants to treat sewage and reuse the effluent water are also being explored. Corporations are creating zero wastewater discharge facilities. But there is a lot more to be done.

Conclusion

Water is precious. There is still hope that concerted action through integrated watershed development and micro-irrigation can address the problem in large part. Actions by corporations can make water productivity of industry much higher. You can make a difference at home and in your workplace in many ways, small and big. If you want to. Very soon, there may be no option!