My first two weeks with Biome went by fast and it’s
been great so far! I'm new to Bangalore so I spent most of that time shadowing others on their site
visits to get a feel for the city, what sort of projects people are doing, and what the general
approach is. Surprisingly, but also not, each person had a different style of
interacting with potential clients and looked at various aspects of water
management. Their approach could be influenced by their own past experiences or
knowledge of that community/client, as well as their area of expertise.
Some of the visits I went on in those first two weeks were:
- Monday (Jun 5): I met Shubha at Harman’s Ecospace office for a World Earth Day presentation on water management in the afternoon. We sat for a while to discuss our expectations of my time with Biome and the plan for the next two weeks. I then listened to her presentation and learned more about Biome, what they do, and Bangalore’s water issues. There were approximately 40 employees that came to listen to her speak, including a few young men from Bangalore listening. I was impressed with their knowledge of their water sources and insightful questions and comments. I know many people who don’t know where their water actually comes from or how it gets treated before leaving the tap at home, so it was refreshing to see people who were aware of these things.
- Tuesday (Jun 6): Most of my day was spent with Aditi and Kiran visiting three government schools which are interested in rainwater harvesting. All three of the schools had already had a small RWH system installed previously by the government but were used infrequently, if at all, since most of them were not working properly. Part of this seemed to be because the system was created without getting much input from the school workers, so the location or other parts were not appropriate for the situation. During all three visits, we interviewed an administrator and/or teacher to gain an understanding of their problems regarding water – primarily if quality or quantity was the issue. We also toured the sites to see the layout and existing infrastructure. Those notes and pictures from each of the campuses will be used to help decide if CSR funds will be used to move forward with those projects. At one of the schools, all of the children were on a recess of sorts and I was a popular attraction for the girls that were running around. No matter what I wear, it’s hard not to stick out when I have light skin, light hair, and blue eyes.
- Thursday (Jun 8): I spent a few hours with Chandika visiting the Sewage Treatment Plants at Dorekere and Uttarahalli Lakes. The original intent was to sample the influent and effluent at both STPs but both lakes (and thus STPs) were technically closed to the public when we arrived and required a permission document. We were able to briefly tour the indoor part of the Dorekere STP and Chandika got a few pictures of that setup. When we got to Uttarahalli Lake, we were allowed to walk to the STP but it was fenced off and without any employees there we couldn’t see much of it. According to a few articles I read later, Uttarahalli Lake was revitalized around 2013 as it had previously been a wasteland instead of a community asset. Prior to the rejuvenation, the BBMP did a lake score study which rates the lake on various parameters such as having an STP, fences, security guards, walkability, etc. This sort of assessment reminds me of some of the ones at home and I can definitely see the benefit of using it as a way to understand the quality of lakes from a human needs perspective while also prioritizing which ones to work on improving next. It’d be cool to see this further developed to account for the quality of the lake from more of an environmental and ecosystems perspective.
- Friday (Jun 9): Himanshu and I traveled to Lakeshore Homes to discuss water management options for their community. The community has been visited before but it seems like not much had come out of those previous meetings. Their water situation has become a bit more serious lately so they may be more inclined to move forward this time. They are already doing a small amount of recharge and rainwater harvesting, though that water goes directly into the stormwater drains instead of being used in the home first. There were also a few homes that had previously had troubles with flooding in their basements which was mitigated by digging open wells in the yard. This not only eliminated the flooding but also provided water for the residents of that home to use before using piped water from the community. It was mainly recommended that individual homes practice RWH for consumption, additional recharge wells, and that other success stories from within and other communities be shared to promote holistic water management practices.
- Saturday (Jun 10): I met Avinash at Chaithanya Samarpan, an upper-class gated community that has slowly begun to experience more water scarcity over the last few years due to wells running dry and more residents coming in. While there, we discussed their current infrastructure (which includes a water treatment facility, borewells, and several recharge wells). It appeared as though there was no rainwater harvesting being collected directly from rooftops for recharge or consumption, though runoff that was captured was used for recharge. We toured parts of the community where the wells are located to get a sense of their condition as well as any monitoring or testing that should be done for a comprehensive understanding of their water. While the group needs to decide their preferred course of action before asking Biome for further assistance, we did discuss RWH on the clubhouse as an example before moving towards individual homes.
- Monday (Jun 12): Chandika and
I visited a private home to test the efficiency of their grey water
treatment system. The system itself was very aesthetically pleasing which
fit in with the home. At the time of our visit, the treated water in the
storage tank was quite clean. Unfortunately, we learned this was because
something was wrong with the piping so there was no water coming into the
system, and thus no water leaving the system. Since no water was leaving
the system, all of solids in the treated water had been able to settle out
which won’t usually be the case when they use it. I’m not sure if the problem
is related, but Chandika also noted that there were mosquito larvae in
each of the treatment tanks which signaled an issue – to me, this makes
sense because the water would have been stagnant for a while since there
was no influent.
- Wednesday (Jun 14): Vishwanath
and I went to Senapathy Whiteley outside of Ramanagaram, which is south of
Bangalore towards Mysore. This place was really interesting to visit – we
walked through a few adjacent factory properties, each of which does a
different process. A lot of the water is provided by borewells owned by
two farmers on either side of the properties, as most of their own
borewells are dry and the 2 that remain cannot provide the entire demand.
There were a few small treatment plants to handle the industrial wastewater
as well as two RO systems to treat water for use in their processes. They
make a specialized paper product which requires high quality water, so
having the RO filters was extremely important for them. Interestingly,
Vishwanath pointed out that one of the borewells was struggling to provide
water which he noticed because the flow from the supply pipe was pulsing –
he suggested a smaller pump could help to get rid of this issue. There is
also a neighboring slaughterhouse which has unfortunately contaminated one
of the nearby waters. There was a lot of emphasis placed on groundwater
recharge as part of the solution because the roof area is large enough to
capture a significant amount of rainwater that could be directed into new
wells. Before we left, we had a clear list of action items for the clients
as they move forward.
- Thursday (Jun 15): I met
Shreyas, who will be my partner for the duration of my stay here in
Bangalore. We visited Manipal County which is both a resort and an
academic campus on 11 acres and is looking for assistance with their water
management. During the meeting, we discussed their current water sources,
costs, and the overall layout of the campus before going on a tour of the
property – we were also provided with a master plan of the entire property
and a hard copy of the plan set for the academic portion of the campus.
During the tour, we looked at the storm drains, the working MBR STP, one
of the RO systems, the piping, and an open well that stores water for
things like watering the lawn.
- Alana
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