Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
WATER WISE
Schools with water sense
VISHWANATH
|
Doddaballapur boasts of rainwater harvesting features in more than 1,000 houses, representing a true case of knowledge flowing from schools to society, with children in the forefront of its spread
|
The emphasis on education and the growing economy has lead to an explosion of educational institutions across the nation. From government schools to private institutions of higher learning, buildings for education are springing up by the day. This building boom represents a tremendous opportunity to transfer water knowledge to the future generation.
The buildings and landscape should not only be designed to be water-smart but should also show that they are so. Design features should ensure functionality with a clear demonstration of that functionality. Like justice which should not only be done but seen to be done, water should not only be conserved but shown to be conserved.
In urban areas, the municipal pipeline may be a source but in many other areas, ground water will be the source of supply. Erecting a recharge structure for such a source and then putting in place a board explaining the system will add value to the source. A meter on the borewell and a monthly reading will provide information to all on consumption of water.
Schools with large site areas should have water-smart landscapes typically based on local and native plants which demand less water.
If the plants and trees are named with signboards they convey botanical information to students. If at all the landscapes are to be watered, they should receive treated waste water only. If wetlands are integrated into the landscape they become important sources of bio-diversity knowledge.
RWH structure
The Swami Vivekananda School in Doddaballapur, near Bangalore, suffered from water shortage. Most demand for water was for non-potable purpose. The management led by M.B. Gurudev, a visionary and an advocate of sensible water management, decided to set up a rooftop rainwater harvesting structure.
A 60,000 litre sump was built to store the rainwater. The top of the sump acted as the playground for the school and the slab was designed to take the load and weight. The rooftop was connected to the tank through pipes and two specially designed filters.
The school did not stop at simply building a rainwater system. Students collected information on and painted the average monthly rainfall details for Doddaballapur on the wall adjacent to the storage tank.
A rain gauge has been set up in the school and students note the daily rainfall and write it on the notice board. Calculations, as to how much water is collected in the tank after every rain, is also done by the students and placed for others to know. More than one-and-a half-lakh litres of water is harvested annually and this information has now gone to almost all the homes of the students. Doddaballapur boasts of more than 1,000 houses with rainwater harvesting structures, representing a true case of knowledge flowing from schools to society with children in the forefront of its spread.
The Vagdevi Vilas school in Bangalore not only has different types of rainwater harvesting structures such as rain barrels, rainwater tanks, recharge pits and recharge wells in its premises, it has made sure that children studying in the school know about them and how they work.
Good information
It has produced excellent literature on these structures of water harvesting and water conservation and makes it available to the people at large.
When the government school at Jai Bhuvaneshwari Nagar, Laggere, wanted to build a rainwater storage tank with the help of volunteers, it requested all students to bring a brick, a palm full of sand and some stone after informing their parents.
The entire community was aware of what was being planned and built in the school and this was the intention.
A failure
Contrast this with the massive Suvarnajala programme of the Government of Karnataka. The intention was to build rooftop rainwater tanks in over 23,000 schools all over the State and provide drinking water to the students.
Since at no stage the programme involved students or parents in the construction of the tanks or explain their use, the littered failure of these systems are there everywhere across the State for people to see.
Water wisdom lies in designing smart water systems, involving students and the community in their construction and maintenance and using these systems for teaching and knowledge transfer.
When the entire society is water literate, sustainable water management will become a reality in India.
www.rainwaterclub.org
www.arghyam.org
email:zenrainman@
gmail.com
Ph: 23641690
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
|
