BENGALURU : Keeping aside the more complex solutions to conserve water such as rain water harvesting, individual water metering, use of tap aerators and others, Bangalore Apartments’ Federation is challenging citizens of Bengaluru to use just half a bucket of water while taking a bath. With the city currently on the clutches of a severe water crisis this summer and gradual depletion of ground water, BAF is challenging people who would typically consume one full bucket of water.
Rajagopalan, Governing Council Representative of BAF, said, “ If I, along with the 8,000 to 9,000 odd people living in my apartment, used half of a 20-litre bucket to take a bath, we would be saving one lakh litre of water per day. That is the amount of water we do not have to purchase from a private tanker or the government. I have taken up this challenge since one week and it has been quite comfortable.”
“With the current system of common water metering by BWSSB, there is no incentive or a way for people to know how much they individually use. Installing individual water metres may be too expensive for them. We were brainstorming for ideas that could be done free of cost and decided to start the half-bucket challenge,” Rajagopalan added.
Explaining how it works, Srikanth Narasimhan, General Secretary of BAF, said, “A person takes up the challenge and posts about it online, nominating a minimum of three more people to take it up. The hashtag we have started is #BAFHalfBucketChallenge. It is already in use on our Facebook page, group and our Twitter handle, @bafblr. It just takes a little bit of a change in mindset and focus on conservation.”
K V Prasanna, vice president of the federation, said, “While we are throwing open the half-bucket challenge, we would like people to look at it at a larger level and see how one can reduce overall consumption of water by half. This is very important as the city’s water resources are going to be continuously under strain as the population keeps increasing.
On of their earlier initiatives included using of tap water aerators to reduce the amount of water coming out of the tap and preventing splashing, recalled Rajagopalan.“This brought down the water flow from 12 litres per minute to just four litres. There are various innovative methods one can take up to reduce water conservation,” he added.