BENGALURU: A new submetering system developed by a Bengaluru-based firm is helping apartment residents reduce water usage, and trim their water bills. Most apartments in the city don’t have individual water meters or submeters. Instead, water charges are included in the rent payment, leaving tenants with no idea about how much water they are using, and no financial incentive to conserve it.
Smarterhomes Technologies, a smart water meter offering company started by Kasturi Rangan and Vivek Shukla, has devised a way in which submeters can be installed in houses. At least 4,000 flats in Bengaluru have been submetered, leading to reduction in water use by 20 per cent on an average.
“Our company has successfully convinced the water boards in Pune and Chennai to make it mandatory for every new apartment building to include submeters. However, our efforts to convince the BWSSB in Bengaluru have failed. We are still trying,” Vivek Shukla, CEO and co-founder, Smarterhomes Technologies, said.
Krishna Lilac, a gated community off Sarjapur Road in Bellandur, has reduced its water consumption by 15 per cent after adopting the technology. The 44 houses in the complex rely on tanker waters and a borewell. They installed a meter at the unloading point of water tankers, to measure water supply. Water use in common areas is metered and the cost shared by all households. Meters for individual houses were installed at the terrace, and each of them is billed based on its meter reading.
“From 195 lpcd (litres per capita per day), average consumption has came down to 165 lpcd,” said secretary of the apartment residents’ association. The community has come close to following the recommended quantity of water use in mega cities, which is 150 lpcd.
Another apartment, Nester Raga, has been able to nearly halve its tanker supply after sub-metering.
“This shows that apartments are using more water than they need, and that it can be reduced using sub-metering, which makes each household accountable for their water use. People pay in proportion to their consumption, and penalties can be imposed on those who waste water,” Shukla added.
The success of the initiative depends on several factors. Ease of retrofitting depends on the existing plumbing network – for example, fewer water entry points to a house means less effort for installing meters.