AquaKraft Group Ventures,(www.aquakraft.net) a water sustainability and impact group, focused on providing actionable solutions on the ground in the area of drinking water and sanitation is offering a comprehensive three-pronged solution to address Bengaluru’s water crisis. Since Bangalore has been a recipient of good rain showers for years, the key lies in the effective utilization of the waters received.
The first prong constitutes a real-time IOT-based system for monitoring the rainwater harvesting structures to understand their efficiency, capture and recharge readings.
The second prong envelopes the treatment of sewage and effluents by employing AquaKraft’s nature-based, time-tested, green & sustainable sewage treatment plants that consume no power, use a bioprocess with no usage of any chemicals, no odour, recover over 95 per cent of the water that is fit for recharging the underground aquifers.
The third prong stems from an understanding of the capital-intensive nature of the STPs. To this effect, AquaKraft has structured a sustainable financing model to fund sewage treatment and water recycling wherein the stakeholders enter a water purchase agreement akin to the power purchase agreement, address their captive needs and offer the excess water for groundwater recharge or other consumption.
All initiators of rainwater harvesting, STPs and groundwater recharge will be monitored using real-time IOTs and the data will be used for integrated water risk management and policy making. This good behaviour in water will be incentivised by issuing AquaKredits – Water Credits after monitoring water use and efficiency on AquaKraft’s digital innovation, AqVerium – World’s 1st Digital Water Bank.”
With about a staggering 86 per cent of the water needs of the urban areas being met by extracting groundwater, the centrality of groundwater to the existing crisis cannot be denied. With an estimated 1000 million litres of sewage being discharged into the city’s lakes and reservoirs that once functioned efficiently as sites for rainwater capture and groundwater recharge, it has also become clear that sewage treatment and water recycling form a complementary piece of the puzzle that is the Bangalore water crisis.
The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board in the past had taken proactive measures to pass a regulation making rainwater harvesting compulsory for houses having an area of 1200 square feet or more to reduce the stress on groundwater. However, the implementation of this resolution has not yielded the desired results. Additionally, there is no central or local system to keep track of the harvesting structures, their capture measurements, efficiency readings, recharge rates etc. The same also applies to the rules regarding the mandatory installation of sewage-treatment plants (STPs) in residential, commercial and educational institutions that were revised a few days back owing to the economic infeasibility for smaller-sized stakeholders.
Speaking on the occasion, C Sridhar – Governor, of AquaKraft group Ventures said, “One of the most important strategies to mitigate the crisis is rooftop harvesting. We have been able to make water villages depending on tanker water, tanker-free with simple rooftop harvesting. Though rainwater harvesting has been made mandatory, its implementation has been poor. AquaKraft will embark on “Jal Pe Charcha” an extensive advocacy programme engaging all stakeholders to catch the rain and recharge the ground water table.”
Carrying an experience of over a decade and a half in evaluating, monitoring and mitigating crises by implementing green & sustainable solutions surrounding the resource that is highly undervalued despite being the planet’s lifeline – water, AquaKraft Group Ventures has taken a focussed initiative as one of the first responders to help resolve the labyrinth of crisis facing the city of Bengaluru.
“Monsoon is seasonal, sewage is perpetual. Our vision is to leverage the sewage generated daily in Bengaluru City and use the excess treated sewage to recharge the dry borewells and augment the groundwater table irrespective of rain. Added to that, incentives for rainwater harvesting will complement this effort leading Bengaluru to water positivity. A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution through multi-stakeholder initiatives. We take this opportunity to invite all stakeholders including citizens, corporates, CSR and administrative bodies to come together and make the city of Bangalore ‘Water Positive’ through collective efforts.” Said Dr. Subramanya Kusnur, Founder Chairman & CEO, of AquaKraft Group Ventures and New Water Man of India.
