Battle for water in your neighbourhood

I was at a friend`s home for dinner. At the end of the meal, my friend`s wife checked my glass of drinking water. There was some left over in the glass. She requested me to drink the balance and not waste water. I was intrigued but saw the point she was trying to make. In the context of the huge water crisis that not only the country is facing but the whole world is facing, it is important that every one realizes the importance of conserving the available water and not waste it. I am sure all of us are aware of what has happened to Cape Town in South Africa. I understand that the city is continuing to suffer from acute water crisis even now. Many other big cities and districts  in India are already facing or likely to face  similar situations in the not too distant future.

Closer home,  Chennai is in for a major water crisis this summer, thanks to a failed monsoon. Though  the rain water harvesting system we had put in place more than a decade ago had ensured that we had a copious supply of water from our open well  in our home for cooking and drinking needs, it  has gone bone dry now. I shudder at the thought of our bore well also going dry, water from which is used for all other needs of the family. Though we pay water tax regularly, we don`t get the supply of corporation water. We  buy water in tankers to make up the gap in our requirements, So what have we done to conserve water at home,  you may ask?

First step was to get rid of the water purifying unit, which was rejecting two litres of water for every litre of potable water. Though we made an effort to store the rejected water in buckets and use it for other needs, it did not always work. I don`t keep the tap open while brushing my teeth or washing my face. I try to fill the bucket with enough water to have a bath instead of standing endlessly under the shower. While taking meals I fill my drinking glass with just the quantity of water I need.  I also adjust the water flush to minimize the use of it while flushing the toilet or ensure controlled  use of water while watering the plants. While I as an individual am conscious of the need to preserve water and doing my best, I don`t see the same awareness among people in general.

The amount of drinking water that is wasted at weddings and  other public places is criminal. People think of conserving water only in a crisis situation We need a mass awareness campaign to educate people about the need to conserve water all the time.

According to the author of the book Water- Asia`s new battleground, `the war of yesterday was fought over land, and today it is over energy but the battles of tomorrow will be over water. Water stress is set to become the defining crisis of the twenty first century…stoking interstate and international tensions over shared water sources`.

Let us do our bit to avoid a ` Battle for water` in our own neighbourhood by taking every step to ensure conservation of water.  Let every home and every apartment complex implement rain water harvesting and used water recycling systems to ensure that we are fully prepared to face any water crisis in the future.

This article has appeared in Adyar Times issue dt. 02-08,June,2019 under my column `Rajan`s Random reflections`