HOW A SCHOOL IN WHITEFIELD IS MANAGING ITS WATER NEEDS, WITHOUT A MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY!

BRIEF OVERVIEW

Situated in Whitefield, Bangalore, Sisa Swiss-Indo Academy is a private school recognized by govt. of Karnataka - founded in 1981. It has a pre-primary, primary and high school, with about 630+ children and 50+ staff. Everyday about 700 people visit the campus. There are 2 main buildings in the school – BEVERIN and PASCUMIN. The school premise is over 4 decades old and has been gradually improved.

Sisa Swiss-Indo Academy, Whitefield, Bangalore

Water situation in Whitefield: 

Whitefield is located towards the south-east of Bengaluru and has emerged as the heart of Bengaluru’s IT corridor and has seen rapid development over the last decade. Cauvery water pipeline work for these areas only began as late as 2017, and the suburban population here mainly depends on borewell water. In some areas, the water level has reached 1,700 ft below the ground, which previously used to be between 300-500ft. In many places the borewells have dried up.

Water situation in Sisa Kendra:

With no choice of Municipal water supply, Sisa Kendra school opted for a bore-well that was established in (or about) 1992, dug for 300ft depth, that used to supply water to all the bathroom-toilets and landscape needs, but ran dry in 2009. Thus, the school had to start depending on tankers, throughout the year.  Additionally, drinking water cans were bought (120LPD) every day. It is in this context that BIOME’s help was sought in 2012, to be able to augment supply. 

PROPOSAL FOR WATER MANAGEMENT

Challenge:

·       The average daily domestic demand (for all purposes other than drinking) was 5000LPD in 2012. This works out to a per capita daily demand of about 8 litres, which was judicious use of water. The current per capita daily demand has now gone up to 10 litres.

·       Hefty amounts were being paid for ensuring supply of water through tankers, and this source is also unpredictable with private tanker companies.

Structure study & area calculation:

Given that the catchment areas on campus is rooftop and open areas, the following table shows us the potential for RWH

Catchment description	Area (sqm)	Annual Run-off 970mm (KL)	Run off for 30 mm rain in KL (average rain)	Run off for 60 mm rain in KL (heavy rain)
Total Campus (0.5 acres)	6069	5887	182	364
BEVERIN (4500sqft, 90% runoff coefficient)	413	361	11	22
PASCUMIN (5000sqft, 90% runoff coefficient)	459	401	12	25

·       Total rooftop and surface area = 4500 sqft + 5000 sqft = 9500 sqft

·       Average annual rainfall in Bangalore is 970mm

·       Total volume of rainwater harvested: 361+401 KLPD

·       There is potential to harvest upto ~150 days of water (361+401/5KLPD) for domestic    consumption.

Biome’s Intervention of an RWH system:

After a careful study of the scenario, BIOME team proposed both rainwater storage and ground water recharge strategies in the recommended order of implementation.

Phase 1

·       Building a 30KL sump next to the existing sump (5KL capacity) near BEVERIN and connected to the old sump on the top for overflow.

·       Redirection of 13 rainwater downpipes from Beverin into this new underground brick masonry sump after filtration.

·       Redirection of all downpipes from Pascumin rooftop and storing of water in the new sump.

·       Redirection of rainwater from the old sump to the dried borewell.

Phase 2

·       Further treatment and usage of the overflow water from the septic tank for gardening. (Yet to be implemented)

IMPACT

Water demand vs supply -

• The average daily domestic demand (for all purposes other than drinking) has been increasing due to increase in student intake. The daily demand has gone up to 6500-7000 litres, from the erstwhile 5000 litres in 2012. This works out to a per capita daily demand of about 10 litres currently.
• With implementation of the RWH system in 2012, initially SISA Kendra was able to supplement 50%- 55% of its water needs. With current demands, the RWH supply suffices only for 45% of their needs.
• The first rain filter water is also captured in a 3’ x 3’ x 2’ tank and used for their landscaping needs. The support staff are very careful and ensure that wastage of water is minimal.

Cost analysis and savings –

·       The overall installation cost for RWH system was 5Lakhs.

·       With an average offset from annual RWH of 762 KL, the school is able to save ~ INR 76,200 annually, by reducing its dependence on tanker supply by 55%.

·       There is an annual expenditure of 1Lakh on buying water from private tankers. In the past year, INR 90,250 was spent to buy 1332KL of water from tankers. There is a need to look at other options for supplementing their needs.

Current functioning & Maintenance -  

·       The school’s support staff do daily maintenance and cleanliness of the terrace space and the filter. The terrace is cleaned every 15 days, and the filter once every month.

·       The underground sump is cleaned every 3-4 months, through an external agency, which costs INR 5000 per cleaning. The septic tank is also cleaned every 3-4 months, for a cost of INR 5000.

“It was my dream project to get the Rainwater Harvesting system for the school and ensure that we are less dependent on borewell and municipal water supply. While maintenance is the main task, the RWH system has helped us be 50% sufficient so far”, says Mr Suriya Narayana, Manager, Sisa Swiss-Indo Academy, Whitefield, Bangalore 560066.

Click here to access the report with the video. 

All is *well*. We are monsoon-ready!

A brief documentation of my first visit to an apartment complex in Harlur Road, to understand recharge wells with the help of a well-digger: 

“There are about 2000 flats and 40 recharge wells, that store rainwater collected from the terraces of all the towers in this apartment complex!” says Bullet Ravi, a well digger at an apartment complex in Harlur Road. “And all the recharge wells have water!” he says, gleaming with pride.

Photograph of an apartment in Harlur Road

Ravi escorts me into the property from the entrance and he pauses briefly pointing towards the direction of Kasanavahalli lake, located just a few meters away from the apartment complex. For a first timer, it’s hard to notice this huge lake as it is concealed by the trees in the park that borders the perimeter of the apartment. The park not only has trees and a lawn but also has many recharge wells! As we step into the park, we examine three different recharge wells, located a few meters away from each other– all of which have 4 feet diameter but varying depths of 12 ft, 20 ft and 30 ft. Most of the wells have water at depths of 6ft to 10ft below ground level.

Recharge Wells

Ravi passes on bits of information as I jot down the details of these wells. He says these wells are interconnected by pipes allowing surplus water from one well to easily flow to adjacent wells. Although, some of the pipes are still being installed most of the recharge wells are interconnected.  

Installing pipes to connect recharge wells

Standing beside a recharge well, all that I had to do was to look up at the skies to picture the journey a raindrop would take: falling from the sky, to the roof of the apartment towers, flowing through a system of pipes into the basement and finally to the network of recharge wells that lie beneath my feet. 

Journey of a raindrop

I clicked a few more pictures and thanked Ravi for his patience and his work in making this apartment monsoon-ready!

- Jeevitha Balakrishnan

Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant- Devanahalli

This is the first faecal sludge treatment plant in India. It is situated in Devanahalli, Bengaluru, India. It costed around Rs 1 crore. 

Area of this plant is 625 sqm.

Treatment capacity is 4000litres/day.

Households Served is 4,000

Dried Sludge Generated is 35,188 kgs

Total Sludge Treated is 821,900 litres

Total Wastewater Treated is 405

Process- Truck load of 4000 liters of discharged into the feeding tank which is screened in a screening chamber.  

The sludge water is left to settle. 

The water from this component is formed on the sludge. 

The separated water is taken to the anaerobic baffled reactor(ABR) 

The sludge from the feeding tank is taken to the biogas digester where the biogas is produced since it is anaerobic process. The process is shifted to the aerobic system, since the efficiency of the biogas digester was low. Hence, the sludge is directly taken to the stabilization tank where the water is further squeezed out. Sludge from this process settles down and separated water. This separated water is taken to the ABR. 

The water in ABR is made to screen through the baffles in the reactor. The treated water is fed to the plants. Further the screened sludge is collected in the collection pit.

Sludge from the stabilization tank is taken to the sludge drying bed, where it is left to dry. This is sent to the percolation pit. Percolation pit consists layers- Gravel bed at the bottom, sand bed on top and terracotta tiles on it. This helps to dry the sludge. The dry sludge is then collected.

This dry sludge is been mixed with the vegetable compost to make Co-compost. 

Process- 250kg of fecal sludge and 500kg of vegetable(wet) waste to create the co-compost. 

The fecal sludge and the vegetable waste are layered alternatively for 6 feet.

The layered waste is kept 4 days. It is then turned and kept for 7 days, again to repeat this cycle and kept 7 more days. This is the process of 20 days to form Co-compost.

This is then sold for Rs7/kg. This compost is used for growing grapes, banana, coconut, tomato, brinjal and jowar. 

Process Flow 

Feeder Tank 

Feeder Quality Tester

ABR - Anaerobic Baffled Reactor

Planted Gravel Filter 

Percolation pit 

Co-composting area

MY TAKE-AWAY:

• One treatment plant can feed as compost to so many industries- agriculture, water recycle, plant. It definitely serves as a long term investment.
• The process is not difficult. It is simple with logic.
• It prospers green by feeding all the plants nearby.
• It becomes income generation, also the way of the recycling the waste-water.
• They collect wet waste to create the co-compost. It prevents the waste filling the landfill.
• We found less labors on the site. To function this, there is a necessity to maintain.
• This uses mostly natural materials for the construction, which makes it nature-friendly.
• It was neatly kept with no smell.

By 

Kavina, Kruthika, Milan, Shimoli, Surabhi 

Lake Rejuvenation by Secondary Treated Wastewater

440 MLD Secondary treated water from KC valley and Bellanduru STP in Bangalore is being pumped to fill 126 tanks of Kolar district.

Lakshmipura Lake

On Tuesday 2^nd July 2019, we visited Lakshmisagra Lake, the first lake in the series of lakes revived by treated waste water. Daily 440 MLD of secondary treated waste water from 56 km far is being discharged into the lake which overflows through the other end and is flows into the next lake. 

Lake Inlet

Inlet Channel

Overflow at the Outlet

This water is to be utilized just for ground water recharging and not for drinking or irrigation. Though, the surrounding farmlands were using this water through one open well which was completely filled, for their irrigation. They were growing various crops like tomatoes, chilies, cauliflower, and many more. Due to the lake, ground water table was quite high in that region.

Open well near the lake

Farmlands irrigated due to the open well

High water table

Many species of native fishes are also added in the lake. They act as bio-indicator to assess quality of water.A total of 1280 crores INR is estimated for the entire project.

Due to waste water, these lakes will be filled for the full year. So the farms will get water throughout the year, benefitting their yield.

By 
Kavina, Kruthika, Milan, Shimoli, Surabhi 

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATION AT JAKKUR

A beautiful sunrise, lake on the horizon, birds chirping through the morning and a small gathering of people to talk about the lake… such was the celebration of World Environment Day at Jakkur Lake.
Jakkur Lake is spread over an area of 160 acres, NE in Bangalore. The lake falls within Hebbal Valley as part of the Yellamallappa Chetty lake series. Once almost dried up in 2005, now the lake is being fed by treated waste water from a BWSSB operated 10 MLD STP to the north of the lake. 

The lake is adopted and maintained by ‘Jalaposhan’ – a non-profit organization led by community around Jakkur. It has played an important role in the lake rejuvenation and educating the people to understand the lake health. Jakkur Lake is now considered a model lake in terms of its biodiversity as well as management, led by citizen participation. This event was one such, to create awareness and connect to people.

Jakkur Lake Observation Deck

Walkway on lake periphery

 The event was scheduled on 5th June at 9 am at the community building on the periphery of the lake. Among many participants were Annapurna Kamat from Jalaposhan, Dr Chanakya from IISC Bangalore, Mr S Vishwanath from BIOME Environmental Services and Miss Minakshi along with some school children of 4^th standard.
The interactive sessions dealt with the talk on the current scenario of Bangalore in terms of its lakes and how to interpret the quantum of knowledge available on internet.The importance of lake for biodiversity and the uniqueness of the Jakkur Lake in these terms is quite remarkable owing to the variety of migratory birds found here, especially the Spot Billed Pelican and cranes. Also, how rejuvenating the lakes can have an overall impact on the Bangalore city itself was discussed. 

Students of IISC Bangalore showing water quality assessment test

Miss Minakshi addressing the crowd

Jakkur Lake gets its water from the STP at its north. This water cannot be directly utilized for drinking purpose but there is an open well at the east periphery of the lake which is used for day to day water usage.So the flow of water from STP through wetland and lake and through natural ground filters makes the water reusable. 

Outlet of STP discharging treated waste water into the wetlands

Miss Annapurna also mentioned three projects under progress in and around the lake - 

1. Wetland project – BIOME 
2.  Community garden to flourish permaculture
3. Nature’s Gurukul Prakruthi Patashale – A citizen science initiative

The event marked the inaugural of the Nature’s Gurukul with lake side activities to be organized every weekend for children as well as community alike. Some activities include bird watching, Nature Walk and assessing water quality in association with a group of students from IISC Bangalore.

In summary, the entire event was well received among the audience and they even committed for a regular participation in the awareness drive. The discussions encouraged active participation from the children, who gave apt responses and added enthusiasm to the event.

By 
Kavina, Kruthika,  Milan, Shimoli, Surabhi