Water Usage Inefficiencies
...s in each of the dorms are provided with an average amount of 100 litres of water per student daily. This can be assumed to be the consumption per student. We can use the same assumption for other persons on campus Identification of potential points of wastage/inefficiency Spillage from the over head tank There is a lot of wastage due to this. Till last year, 50,000 litres of water was wasted due to spillage. A float valve system has been put in place which has reduced this wastage considerably but this requires manual supervision and hence suffers from overlooking errors. An automated system was proposed but was discarded as the salinity of the water is too high and damages the devices. Wastage of water in gardening Gardening has a major part to play in the wastage. The gardeners, tend to leave the water running while tending to another patch. Due to this there is flooding of grass-beds and unnecessary losses. Reverse-osmosis Purification Method : All over campus there are 45 RO systems each with a different capacity. Water is RO-ed. However for every litre of potable water that this system produces, 7 litres is discarded and there is no mechanism to recycle this water. Problems due to poor utilization of resources: 1. Lowering of water table : It is estimated that in 1993, the water table was nearly 140ft and it was decreasing at the rate of 3-5 ft per year. By 2003, the estimated water table levels are nearly 300 ft and it is decreasing at the rate of around 7 ft per year. The lowering of water table poses multiple problems: When water has to be bored from deeper levels, the amount of energy consumed is higher. Thus the cost of boring water also increase as the water table drops. The motor used for boring water becomes ineffective/inefficient every few years, so new motors have to be bought, raising additional costs. During the intervening period, the motors operate with reduced inefficiency and incur additional cost. It has been suggested[1] that the reckless overdrawing of underground water also contributes to the increase in the salinity of the water. If the water table continues to drop at this rate, it would be wise to treat underground water as a perishable resource. To that extent, long term sustainability of the reliance on underground water is questionable. 2. High levels of consumption: Against the WHO standards of 200 litres per person per day, consumption in our campus is above 400 liters per person per day. Not only is the water being overconsumed, the distribution of consumption is highly skewed, an alarmingly high level of water being used for irrigation of gardens etc. . Steps currently being taken All new air conditioning systems in the campus are air cooled. So they do not use any water. Two separate water distribution channels are being developed in the new campus to ensure separate supply for different consumptions. Since the current system uses only one distribution channel, recycling of water cannot be done easily. This is causing a huge amount of wastage. Possible steps to improve the situation Employ sensors to automate the control of water supply to the overhead tank. Sprinklers can be made mandatory for garden irrigation. Spread awareness through posters and try to bring in changes in behavioral practices with respect to water usage. Behavioral practices involve changing water use habits so that water is used more efficiently, thus reducing the overall water consumption in the campus. These practices require a change in behavior, not modifications in the existing plumbing or fixtures. Behavioral practices for water users can be applied both indoors in the bathroom, laundry room and outdoors. Water can be saved in the laundry room by adjusting water levels in the washing machine to match the size of the load. If the washing machine does not have a variable load control, water can be saved by running the machine only when it is full. If washing is done by hand, the water should not be left running. A laundry tub should be filled with water, and the wash and rinse water should be reused as much as possible. Encourage students to not leave the taps running while washing faces or cleaning or shaving. Encourage students to report any leakages in water any where in the campus to the Electrical Engineer/ Department of the Campus. Promote development of separate water channels to serve different consumption purposes to ensure that recycled/ slightly inferior quality water can be supplied for specific purposes through an alternate channel. Rain water harvesting Request for water-metering to ensure that excessive usage of water can be detected and arrested. Encourage recycling of Toilet Water. Water draining out of RO system be used for other purposes possible Brine water from RO systems could be redirected for use in gardening, lawn maintenance, landscaping, and other innovative uses. Wastewater is a by-product of the reverse osmosis water purification process. Even the best residential reverse osmosis systems will make almost 4 liters of water brine for every one-liter purified, while lower grade systems can waste as much as 8 liters of water per liter purified. Recently some companies have introduced zero waste reverse osmosis systems, which do not waste any water. These systems still produce brine water as a by-product of the reverse osmosis process, but can labeled as zero waste systems because the brine water is recycled; not flushed down the drain as wastewater. Zero Waste reverse osmosis systems come in two basic types. The more advanced types of zero waste systems eliminate water waste by pumping the brine water into the hot water plumbing instead of down the drain. The less advanced types of zero waste systems will pump the brine water back into the cold water line that feed the reverse osmosis unit. The downside to this design is that the additional concentrated brine water in the feed water will force the reverse osmosis system to work harder and wear down the system components faster resulting in more frequent filter changes and overall shorter system life than a comparably equipped standard reverse osmosis system. Both systems are effective at eliminating water waste but their downsides are significant. The Permeate Pump: Alternative to Zero Waste While a permeate pump equipped reverse osmosis system will still waste water; it can reduce the amount of wastewater by up to 80%. Furthermore the permeate pump equipped reverse osmosis syst...