Water Management in Ittina Anai Apartment

Ittina Anai is located in Kempapura, Yemalur, Bellandur. It was constructed in 2006. The apartment spreads in an area of 1 acre and 13 guntas; it has four blocks with 72 flats and about 168 residents. Ittina Anai does not have a BWSSB Cauvery water connection. The apartment is not planning to get the Cauvery water connection as they perceive the advance deposit is higher and the quantity of water supply is not adequate. 

The “2500 Recharge Wells for Bellandur” campaign also focused on reusing the treated wastewater to reduce the stress on freshwater demand. Ittina Anai apartment stands as the best instance for refurbishing the Sewage Treatment Plant and using the Treated Wastewater (TWW) for all purposes including drinking. They also harvest every drop of rainwater falling in their rooftops and the pavements in sumps and recharge wells.  

 

Use of treated wastewater for potable purposes 

Ittina Anai apartment had a Sewage Treatment Plant which was set up by the builder which followed the technology of the Activated Sludge Process. The capacity of the STP was 40 KLD. The builder had also provided a dual plumbing system where treated wastewater was reused for flushing and gardening. Eventually, the in-flow into the STP exceeded its built capacity and treatment efficiency was reduced. This caused the issues of turbidity, odor, color etc. The residents moved away from using TWW for flushing. The excess treated wastewater was led into stormwater drains. 

The RWA became part of the “2500 RWs for Bellandur” campaign and put efforts in the direction of water conservation. The RWA came forward to refurbish the STP. The STP was upgraded to an SBR (Sequential Batch Reactor) and increased its capacity to 90 KLD. The TWW is Cleaner, odor-free and crystal clear and the STP is operated to its fullest capacity. The TWW was again reused for flushing, floor cleaning and gardening etc. Mr Aditya Rao from the RWA took a lead in resuing the TWW for potable purposes through Tertiary treatment with RO.  The TWW is passed through the Water Treatment Plant and is currently being used for potable purposes. Initially, the residents were not convinced with the idea and gradually accepted it after they witnessed the clear water quality. Currently, there is no excess TWW generated in the apartment, it has achieved Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD). 

 

Rainwater harvesting 

The apartment did not face any water scarcity. The RWA came forward to dig the RWs for future water sustenance. The rainwater from all 4 blocks and the paved area is being directed to storage sumps and six recharge wells placed strategically throughout the apartment. The 4 recharge wells are 4 ft wide and 34 ft deep and the remaining 2 recharge wells are 5 ft wide and 25 ft deep. The apartment is dependent on 2 borewells; one is the major borewell(one was decommissioned) which was yielding 1.5 inches of water. After digging the recharge wells the yield has gone up to 3.5 to 4 inches. 

“We have achieved ZLD where not a drop of water comes into our campus and not a drop goes out of our campus!! By revamping and upgrading our STP we have experienced that we are able to reuse all our TWW and donot discharge even a single drop into the drains. This has further reduced our dependence on our Borewell and has delisted in us using the Borewell lesser and thereby saving about 25% of our electricity costs by way of running the Borewell for fewer hours. The recharge wells have increased the yield of the Borewell from 1.5 to 3.5 inches and this too means that we are getting more liters of water in lesser Borewell run time. Our water table rose from 180 feet to 80 feet in just one season of rains. We did our RWs in 2018-19 under the 2500 RWs challenge in Bellandur.”                                                                                            - Treasurer, RWA