Water Management in Deccan International School

 1.0 Introduction

Deccan International School is located on 18th Main Road, Brindavan Layout, Padmanabhanagar in the south of Bengaluru. The overall area of the school complex is 10 acres. The school consists of junior and senior schools, an ashram school, a playground, the Nettakallappa Aquatic Centre and the vehicle parking area all of which are at different levels topographically. There is a contour drop of 10 m within the campus.

Fig 1: Deccan Internation school and its location on the map

2.0 Summary and context

The school campus is situated in a low-lying area near the dry Chikka Kalasandra lake. Hence, during heavy rain, many areas on the school campus get flooded causing a lot of inconveniences. At the same time, the school regularly faced water scarcity issues, particularly in maintaining their large swimming pools and would often resort to buying tanker water to meet their daily demand.

This story focuses on how the school has solved this paradoxical problem of water scarcity and abundance by using 11 recharge wells that direct a large part of the 13801 KL (13.8 million litres) rainwater runoff generated every year into the ground.

Fig 2: Area covered by the school and its proximity to the Chikka Kallasandra lake

3.0 Water usage

The school needs water for drinking, handwashing, gardening and flushing the toilets. A significant amount of water is also needed for the swimming pools in the aquatic centre.

4.0 Water demand

A half-day workshop was conducted with the staff to determine the water demand of the school based on their daily activities. This revealed that the school needed about 35KL/day to function smoothly.

5.0 Sources of water

5.1 Borewells 

The main source of water for the school are the 4 borewells which are all currently in good working condition. The table below depicts their details and locations.

Borewell #	Location	Year of  digging	Depth	Notes
BW1	Near main block	1988	420 ft	Had silt accumulation. Working fine after casing replacement, and recharge well filter media cleanup
BW2	Near junior school block	2004	420 ft
BW3	Near swimming pool	2005	750 ft
BW4	Near Ashram school	2005	750 ft

Table 1: information about the four borewells

BW1 was drilled when the open well in the campus had dried up. Subsequent borewells were drilled to meet the increasing water demand, and also because the water in BW1 had become silty.  Water from all the borewells is used to fulfil all the needs of the school including the swimming pools. However, apart from BW2, all the borewells would go dry in the summer. After recharge wells were dug, they have been yielding throughout the year.

When BW1 dried out, direct borewell recharge was implemented. This was not appropriately filtered, causing the borewell to discharge muddy water. This has now been corrected with appropriate silt traps and recharge wells.

Fig 3: The 4 borewells in the school campus (clockwise from the top BW1, BW2, BW3, BW4)

5.2 Water tankers

Even with BW2 working, the school had to buy 12 KL of tanker water per day in the summer (2 tankers 6 KL each). This was mainly used for the swimming pools.

However, after the recharge of BW1 was corrected and revived, the need for water tankers had come down significantly by 2018. The school hasn’t bought any tanker water since 2020 owing initially to low demand due to Covid. Subsequently, this reduction in dependency has been attributed to the increase in yield of the borewells after recharge wells were dug.

5.3 Cauvery water

The school also gets Cauvery water from the BWSSB - about 2 KL per day. This is mainly used for drinking purposes, after filtration.

6.0 Flooding issue and solution

The primary issue the school faced was flooding during heavy rain. Its position in a low-lying area near a lake caused water from the surrounding area to flow through the campus and flood certain areas within the school. Six to twelve inches of stagnant water used to be the norm in these areas. The areas that were most prone to flooding have been listed below. The solution for each of these areas was tailored slightly differently.

• Flooding area 1 - the parking lot

• Flooding area 2 - Junior school courtyard

• Flooding area 3 - Open area behind Ashram school (previously called grape garden area)

Fig 4: Areas of flooding and directions of runoff

The best way to deal with excess water is to send it into the ground. This has the double benefit of preventing flooding and enhancing the groundwater level. A similar approach was taken up at Deccan International School. The next sections describe the tailored approaches for each of the flooding areas.

6.1 Total runoff from different catchment areas

Catchment area	Area (sqm)	In 30 mm rain (KL)	In 970 mm rain - annual (KL)
Runoff into drain near Ashram school	5219.5	76	2493
Runoff into drain near basketball court	9040.5	138	4431+1947
Runoff into the RW sump	1954.6	31	1011
Runoff to the borewell recharge pit	2291	22	699
Runoff into SWD outside	707	19	1092
Runoff to main building recharge pit	707	19	617
Grape garden area	7792	47	1512
Total runoff generated		352	13801

Table 2: Total runoff

Hence, the volume of water generated with runoff in the entire school is calculated to be 13801 KL annually.

6.2 Flooding area 1 - The parking lot

Since the land slopes towards the school from the neighbouring Telecom layout and beyond, two recharge wells of dimensions 5ft x 30ft were dug to recharge the runoff coming from this area. One recharge well (RW1) was dug in the SWD which is very close to the boundary near the Telecom layout. The overflow from this was directed to the second recharge well which is located in the area where the parking lot meets the playground (RW2). The overflow from RW2 has been directed into a chamber from which all the water is directed into the main SWD of the school. Multiple recharge wells are present in this SWD. This line of recharge wells in the internal SWD lies uphill of BW1 and BW2, and the consequent recharge could be a significant contributor to the revival of these borewells.

Fig 5: One among the series of  RWs in the SWD

Fig 6: Placement of recharge wells for flood management in flooding area 1 (the blue arrows show the direction of water flow)

Fig 7: Parking area

6.2.1 Future plans

Since the volume of water coming into this area has been observed to be high in the last 2 years, the school is now also considering diverting a part of the runoff towards the open well near the ashram school through the same chamber as shown in Fig 6.

Fig 8: Open well near Ashram block (12 ½ ft dia, 55 ft deep)

6.3 Flooding area 2 - the Junior School courtyard

The Junior School courtyard used to flood when water overflowed from the stormwater drain, and also from the runoff from the elevated play area to the southeast. The runoff volumes for this area are calculated to be 199 KL /annum.

But since the recharge wells in the SWD were dug, this flooding has reduced  significantly. A cattle trap drain has also been made (as seen in figure 9) downhill of the courtyard to take any excess water from this area into the SWD.

Fig 9: Junior school courtyard (left: the school side, right: opp the school with cattle trap drain)

6.4 Flooding area 3: the grape garden area

Being an open area of 7792 sqm, a fair amount of runoff even in mild rain (47 KL) used to be generated here. It also directly receives the runoff from the Telecom Layout and extension roads, the parking area, the path next to the playground, the Ashram school rooftops and ground, through a large culvert that opens out into the grape garden area. But after the two recharge wells described in section 6.2 were dug, the school hasn't seen any flooding in this area. A basketball court has now been constructed in this area and has not faced any water logging to date.

Fig 10: Grape garden area

7.0 Map with important areas marked

8.0 Next steps - Rooftop rainwater harvesting

After successfully managing the flooding issue and reviving their borewells with 11 recharge wells, the school is now looking at its water security in the long term. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant amount of water is still running off the property from the exit points marked in figure 4.

8.1 Open well

After the heavy rains of 2021 and 2022, the old open well near the ashram block that had run dry has now started to hold water. This is the biggest motivation for the school to consider recharging this well. The school plans to direct the rooftop rainwater from the ashram building into this well and also direct some of the water coming from the parking lot in its direction as described in section 6.2.1.

Fig 11: Downtake pipe not connected to the open well yet

 

8.2 Rainwater harvesting tank

A rainwater tank of 80 KL capacity exists near the junior block that is currently taking in a lot of silty water from a part of the rooftop of the building. This has recently been cleaned once, the stored water from which was used in construction activities in the school. The sump is however still taking in silty water. This silt is a result of the surface runoff that gets into the cattle trap drain that carries the rooftop runoff. The school plans to correct this as well. This water is planned to be used for gardening purposes in the future.

Apart from the above, rooftop rainwater harvesting is being planned for the rest of the buildings as well. This water is planned to be used to supplement their domestic needs and further reduce the pumping of borewell water.

9.0 Conclusion

Deccan International School has successfully tackled its flooding issue by using recharge wells to send the excess water into the ground. This has also added the benefit of the revival of all its borewells, eliminating the use of tankers for the last 3 years.

This effort can be furthered by setting up rooftop rainwater harvesting for all its buildings. This will help reduce purification and pumping costs for the school and also help revive the open well for long-term water security. Revival of this large old well also has the added benefit of preserving our heritage artefacts. Since this is a school, this and the rest of the water management system could be great learning for the protection and optimal usage of our natural resources for its students.

SV Symphony apartments - A case study of direct borewell recharge using filtered rainwater

SV Symphony is an apartment complex in Janatha colony in Carmelaram. It consists of 52 flats and occupies an area of about 0.5 acres. The complex consists of 2 and 3 BHK apartments. The lay of the land within the premises slopes slightly from north to south. The children’s play area on the southern side is the lowest point of the land.

The entrance to the apartment complex is into the car parking area which is about 4 feet below the road level.

Fig 1: SV Symphony apartment (left: location on the map; right: Satellite view of the apartment)

1.0 Summary
SV Symphony apartment complex had been facing water scarcity since its inception. They do not have a BWSSB Cauvery connection and were heavily dependent on tanker water which was very expensive. The proactive owners however tried to ease their water woes by implementing rooftop rainwater harvesting and direct borewell recharge. This has resulted in the complex consuming less tanker water while increasing its borewell yield thereby aiding its water security.

This case study looks at how these interventions were undertaken and their effects on the water sustainability of the apartment complex.

2.0 Background
The only source of water in the apartment complex is borewells. Three borewells were drilled during its construction, but these did not meet the apartment’s needs. Due to this, they have always been heavily dependent on tanker water which costs around 13 to 14 lakhs per annum.

Fig 2: SV symphony apartment complex

Early on, the residents of the apartment complex were on the lookout for better water management solutions. One such well-informed resident was Mr Samir Rakshit, who was an ardent proponent of water conservation. After some research, he and a group of residents contacted Mr Ayyappa Masagi to help solve their problem. Direct borewell recharge with filtered rooftop rainwater was suggested.
As in many communities, this community too faced some initial resistance to this initiative. But after some discussions on technicalities and budgeting, the complex was convinced to take the initiative forward.
A few amenities were still under construction at this time. Hence, after some discussions with the builder, the flat owners managed to get involved with the design and implementation of their rooftop rainwater harvesting system.
Samir believes that the size of the community was a big factor in the success of this initiative. In his words, “We were lucky to have a smaller community at the start. Moreover, since we started this early on and much before the apartment was fully occupied, the pushback was also manageable.”

3.0 Sources of Water

3.1 Borewells

During the construction in 2014, the builder drilled three borewells, each 1100 feet deep. Out of these, two borewells (borewell 1 - near the pool and borewell 2- in the children’s play area) did not yield any water. The third borewell (borewell 3- near the exit gate) was the only one that yielded some water. But this was not enough to meet the apartment’s needs. The location of all these borewells is depicted in figure 3. Since there are no meters to the borewells the exact yield is unknown.

Borewell	Location	Status after digging
Borewell 1	Near pool	Zero yield
Borewell 2	Near children’s play area	Zero yield
Borewell 3	Near exit gate	Average yield

Table 1: Status of all three borewells (depth: 1100 feet)

3.2 Tankers

The apartment heavily relied on tanker water throughout the year. About 40 to 50 tankers of 13 KL capacity were purchased every month. This cost around ₹70,000 per month (₹1400 per tanker). The total amount spent on tanker water per month and year is shown below.

No. of tankers/ month	Capacity per tanker (KL)	Cost per tanker (₹)	Tanker water consumed/annum (KL)	Cost of tanker water/annum (₹)
40-50	13	1400	7800	8.4 L

Table 2: Tanker water consumption and its cost per annum

4.0 Water Storage
Two underground sumps of 16 KL each are present near borewell 3 and are connected internally. Borewell and tanker water are mixed and stored in these tanks.
Water from here is then pumped to three 4 KL overhead tanks (total 12 KL capacity), which are then supplied to the houses directly.

Fig 3: Three 4KL overhead tanks

Another sump for storing rooftop rainwater was initially constructed on the eastern side behind the second lift. This location was however inconvenient for the system and hence is currently dysfunctional. The apartment complex does not plan to use this sump in the future either.

5.0 Water demand
Assuming a family of four in each of the 152 flats and an average daily consumption of 135 litres/person/day, the annual water demand for one flat is as in the table below.

No. of people/flat	Consumption/person/day (L)	Total consumption per day (L)	Total consumption per annum (KL)
4	135	540	197

Table 3: Annual consumption for one flat

From the table above, the approximate water demand for all 52 flats is approximately 10244 KL/annum. Of this, only around 2444 KL/annum of water demand was being met by the borewell, and 7800 KL/annum of taker water was required to bridge the gap.

6.0 Rooftop rainwater harvesting

To increase the yield of the existing borewells, direct borewell recharge with rooftop rainwater was undertaken. To set up this system, the rooftop was divided into two parts – one section with a catchment area of 15500 sqft (1440 sqm), and another of 1440 sqft (134 sqm). This is depicted in Fig 4 below.

Fig 4: Rainwater harvesting plan in SV Symphony (Pic credit: Citizen Matters)

6.1 Rainwater harvesting potential
Calculating rainwater harvesting potential is a method of estimating how much rainwater can be harvested from rooftops by assuming that 90% of rooftop runoff can be harvested.
The rainwater harvesting potential for the two parts of the rooftop with average annual rainfall and mild rainfall is given in the table below.

Part of rooftop catchment	Area (sqm)	Runoff coefficient	Annual runoff at 974.5 mm rainfall (KL)	Runoff at 30 mm rainfall (KL)
North part (water stored and used)	1440	0.9	1263	39
South part (water not stored)	134	0.9	177	3.6
Total	1574		1440	42.6

Table 4: RWH potential

As seen in table 3, the maximum rainwater that can be harvested per annum by the apartment is 1440 KL. This shows that harvested rooftop rainwater can meet 4.8% of the water demand of 10244 KL.

6.2 Storage and Recharge of Borewell 3
The only functioning borewell was borewell 3, which was picked first for intervention. Rainwater from the northern part of the rooftop which is 1440 sqm (~91% of the rooftop area) is channelled into a masonry filter. Filtered water is then directed into the two sumps (of 16KL capacity each) that are located near this borewell.
Overflow from these sumps is led to the borewell where direct borewell recharge has been implemented. The stored water from the sumps is pumped up to the three overhead tanks and then supplied to the flats directly.

Description	Volume of water (KL)
Rainwater that can be harvested from 1440 sqm area (for 974.5 mm rainfall)	1262
Total storage capacity (sump+overhead tanks)	44
Volume of water used for direct borewell recharge	1218

Table 5: Volume of water stored and used for recharge

Fig 5: Left: Masonry filter for RRWH; Right: Borewell with direct recharge

6.3 Recharge of Borewell 2
In 2021, the second borewell located in the children’s play area was similarly recharged with rainwater falling on the southern section of the rooftop, of 1440 sq ft area (134 sqm). Unlike the northern part, this water is not stored in a sump. All of this water is used to recharge borewell 2 after passing through an on-site filter at the borewell. Though the yield of this borewell has increased, it is not used much, as the first borewell suffices for their needs.

    

Fig 6: Borewell 2 in the children’s play area

6.4 Total savings on tanker water purchase

Efforts towards rooftop rainwater harvesting and direct borewell recharge have led to a considerable reduction in tanker water consumption at the apartment complex. As mentioned earlier, around 40-50 tankers were being purchased initially every month even during monsoons. After interventions, this has been reduced to about 25 tankers per month for about 5-6 months of the year only. There is no tanker water consumption during the monsoon season. The following table captures these numbers.

	Before intervention	After intervention
No. of tankers per month	40-50 per month for 12 months	20-25 per month for 5-7 months
Volume of tanker water consumed/year (KL) - 13 KL/tanker	7800	2275
Cost per year (₹) - ₹1400/tanker	8,40,000	2,45,000

Table 6: Cost of tanker water before and after intervention

From the above table, it can be seen tanker water consumption has reduced by 5525KL/annum which is a saving of about ₹2,45,000/annum.

6.5 Concerns about water quality

Some flat owners expressed some concerns about the quality of harvested rainwater that was recharging the borewell. Though a formal lab test was not conducted Samir and team periodically monitor the output water by sight and smell and circulate the photos through Whatsapp and email.

6.6 Efforts to keep the rooftop clean

Every rooftop rainwater harvesting system requires the rooftop to be kept as clean as possible. Restricting footfall on the rooftop is the most common strategy that is employed in most apartment complexes for this purpose. However, there was a major backlash to this suggestion by the residents. Hence, a compromise was made to allow some basic tasks like clothes drying etc. The housekeeping is however vigilant in keeping this area clean. Instructions have also been printed and published at the entrance of the rooftop for the same and footwear is not allowed in the terrace area.

6.7 Savings and water security
The apartment has spent ₹1.6 lakhs for the implementation of this system. But Mr Samir claims that they have used 14 million litres of pure rainwater in the last five years. This would cost approximately 14 lakhs. Hence, they have been saving around ₹3 lakhs per year.
There is also the added advantage of water security due to these efforts.

6.8 Future Plans
During heavy rains the rainwater that is channelled into borewell 2 tends to overflow. Due to this, it was decided to try and use this water to recharge the borewell that never yielded any water (Borewell 1).
The apartment still ends up buying around 150-175 tankers of water per year, much of it in June - during the peak of the dry season. However, their tanker water use has reduced considerably.
The apartment complex plans to build more overhead tanks to increase its water storage capacity leading to a further reduction in its dependency on external tankers.

7.0 Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)
The STP that the builder had installed had become dysfunctional soon after the handover. The apartment was sending out untreated water into the sewage line for a while. But a sum of ₹2 lakhs was soon collected from the flat owners to restore its functionality.
This STP occupies an area of about 75-80 sqft of space. The treated water is stored in a 5 KL overhead tank. The STP is placed between the entry and the exit gate as shown in fig 7.
The treated wastewater is reused in the flush tanks of all the flats. There is, however, no space for a garden area in this apartment complex and hence the unused treated water is currently sent out of the apartment.

Treated wastewater demand for Flushing
Flushing requirement per person (litres)/day	No. of people per flat	Total water required for flushing for 1 flat (litres/day)		Total water required for flushing for 52 flats (litres/day)
40	4	160		8320

Table 7: Treated wastewater demand

Assuming that about 80% of the water consumed by the apartment is being discharged as wastewater and treated, the volume of treated water generated is 8195 KL/annum. From the above table, 3036.8 KL/annum is required for flushing in the apartment.

Fig 7: STP between the gates

8.0 Water demand management

8.1 Pool closure

The builder had handed over a moderate-sized swimming pool to the residents of the apartment. The pool needed 13 KL of water every day. One whole tanker was used to fill in the pool per day. However, after facing severe water scarcity from 2016 through 2018, the apartment complex decided to close this pool completely so as not to waste water. This was undertaken after a poll was conducted with the owners of the apartment. There are also plans to reuse the tank of the pool for storage purposes.

Fig 8: Closed pool

8.2 Aerators and other water-saving attachments
Aerators for all taps have been mandated in all houses. Some enthusiastic owners have also installed other water-saving fixtures like water-saving shower heads etc.
Metering has however not been implemented here due to the complex plumbing system employed by the builder.
There is widespread awareness of sustainability among the residents of this apartment complex. Continuous monitoring, follow-up and education are carried out.

9.0 Media Coverage

In September 2019, when many of the apartments in the area were hit by a drought-like situation, this apartment was unaffected due to their efforts towards rainwater harvesting. This was covered by the journal Citizen Matters and is linked here:
https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/bengaluru-rainwater-harvesting-3-lakh-annual-savings-borewell-recharge-37514 

10.0 Conclusion
SV Symphony apartment was built and handed over to the owners at the end of 2015. However, with the efforts of flat owners who had moved in early, the rainwater harvesting system was in place by March 2015. This apartment has demonstrated the benefits of the cooperative efforts of the builder and residents to achieve water security in the apartment complex through rooftop rainwater harvesting and direct borewell recharge.