On a mission to save water

Sanjay Yadav

A Class XII student is spearheading a unique water conservation model in the aqua-doomed millennium city. 

Out to recycle and reuse water wasted in RO water operations, World Spa Society resident Raunak Bansal, who started RO waste water recycling at home and his father’s factory first, has now got around societies and offices to raise awareness. 

The effort has lead to saving around 1 lakh litre water a month.

Seventeen-year-old Raunak, who is a student of Shriram School, Aravali, started his campaign for water conservation in the beginning of this year, when he realised how much of water was being wasted at homes. He started the practice from his home first and then his father’s factory and within two or three months he saved over 2,000 litre water. He also used this experiment at his school and then started raising awareness in his society in Sector 30 and gave many presentations to residents. As a result, they adopted his idea and now over 30 families are saving RO waste water.

The RO drain pipes from individual apartments can be connected to a main collection pipe that runs along the kitchen or balconies. This water being cleaned can be used for washing cars or collected in a sump for use later.

Raunak said RO waste water collection tank attached to the RO drainpipe makes it convenient to collect and reuse rejected water for mopping, washing utensils and gardening. This way it helps in saving clean groundwater. In the absence of a collection tank, the water rejected may be stored in buckets, which is cumbersome to reuse. So, most people skip reusing the waste water.

“People are not aware about RO waste water collection and its reuse. I am still working on saving more water and my next step will be to target the centralised RO waste water tanks in societies, offices and other areas. This water is not grey and can easily be used for mopping, sweeping and gardening. I hold awareness sessions and tell people how to save RO waste water and reuse it. I hope residents adopt this system to save RO waste water,” Raunak said.

“In the RO system, approximately 4 litre water is wasted to get 1 litre pure water and on an average, 100 litre water is wasted in every home per day. While conducting a special survey in my society, I found that only 10 per cent residents were trying to save the RO waste water. As many as 350 families reside in my society and I am happy that at least 10 per cent residents save their RO waste water,” Raunak said.

‘100-litre water wasted in every home per day’

"People are not aware about RO waste water collection and its reuse. I am still working on saving more water and my next step will be to target the centralised RO waste water tanks in societies, offices and other areas. This water is not grey and can easily be used for mopping, sweeping and gardening. I hold awareness sessions and tell people how to save RO waste water and reuse it. I hope residents adopt this system to save RO waste water. In the RO system, approximately 4 litre water is wasted to get 1 litre pure water and on an average, 100 litre water is wasted in every home per day. While conducting a special survey in my society, I found that only 10 per cent residents were trying to save the RO waste water. As many as 350 families reside in my society and I am happy that at least 10 per cent residents save their RO waste water." 

Raunak Bansal, A Class XII student