Water, though vital, is often undervalued in India, leading to unsustainable consumption patterns. This reality is particularly evident in rapidly urbanizing cities like Bengaluru, where water scarcity is a growing concern. Raghunandan Prasad, Managing Director of Konarak Meters, brings a unique perspective to this challenge. With an academic background in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, combined with his experience in precision engineering, Prasad understands the critical intersection of technology and resource management.
Konarak Meters, under his leadership, has deployed 9 lakh smart meters in Bengaluru, demonstrating the potential of IoT-based solutions to track and manage water usage. However, technology alone is insufficient. Prasad emphasises the need for a comprehensive approach that includes effective policy, informed pricing, and a fundamental shift in public behaviour. This article explores how these elements can converge to foster sustainable water use, addressing the challenges of groundwater depletion and the increasing reliance on unregulated water tankers.
Discover how real-time data, strategic policy, and community engagement are crucial in driving the necessary behavioural change to ensure water security for future generations; and why this conversation is more urgent than ever!
Driving Behavioural Change for Sustainable Water Use
The Value of Water: Why Do We Take It for Granted?
The most valuable and most neglected resource today is Water. Unlike fuels and electricity, which are not only expensive but also drive conscious consumption, water remains undervalued and frequently wasted. Financial costs motivate conservation of gas and electricity; but water despite its essential role in sustainability is typically used without consideration for its limited availability or wider environmental consequences.
The repercussions of this negligence are seen in cities like Bengaluru, where water scarcity has become a serious problem. To avert water crises in the future, it's important to create public consciousness and behavior in this regard. Smart technologies such as AI, IoT, and smart water meters can spearhead a campaign in changing public perception and accountability.
Smart Meter Facilities for Water Conservation
Traditional water meters reflect only the aggregated value and hence do not help the customers identify leakage or wastage. Smart meters, however, allow users to effectively manage and monitor their household water use through real-time awareness.
Real time monitoring, automated invoicing, and leak detection have been proven effective through the use of smart water meters in Indian housing complexes. These meters are effective in conserving water by billing homeowners based on actual usage as opposed to pooled estimations that tend to be excessively used. They promote sustainable practice since they give credible data and trace undetected leakages. The smart meter helped to discover an unnoticed slow flush leak. While smart meter adoption is a huge step toward efficient water management, hurdles that need to be cleared include reluctance to change and cost issues.
Water Tariffs and Water Policies
Raising water tariffs could potentially encourage better conservation practices. Because water is inexpensive, it's thoughtlessly squandered, while costlier resources are carefully preserved. Take, for example, the residents of Delhi are facilitated 20,000 liters of water from the Government of Delhi each month free of charge. On the other hand, cities with smaller allocations like Odisha naturally develop conservation cultures out of necessity. Implementing tiered water pricing represents another structural approach that could promote responsible consumption while maintaining affordability for vulnerable populations.
Surge in Water Tanker Dependency Creates Mounting Challenges
As groundwater levels continue to decline, urban communities are increasingly relying on private water tankers for their basic needs. This growing dependence comes with significant costs. These tankers extract water from borewells without oversight or regulation, accelerating groundwater depletion across affected regions. The resulting cycle perpetuates environmental degradation as extraction consistently outpaces natural replenishment, creating a self-reinforcing pattern of resource depletion.
Roadmap to Sustainable Water Management: Technology and Policy
In Bengaluru, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has also started imposing penalties on people and shops for squandering drinking water on activities like washing cars, watering flowers, and construction work. Alongside BWSSB sanctions, these harsh measures are meant to sustain the critically low water levels in the city as summer draws nearer. Officials encourage citizens to report violations so that the water supply in the city does not get misused.
However, regulations such as free water availability may impact consumption trends. This variance highlights the complexities of water management in urban India, where demand and supply dynamics vary according to location, policy, and infrastructure. Richer communities, membership in country clubs and fancy car washes, seem to see greater willingness to pay for these luxuries. This necessitates a sustainable and equitable water pricing regime that guarantees affordability and discourages wastage.
A thorough combination of smart technology, well-thought-out policies, and public awareness is required to facilitate the much-needed change. AI and IoT-based technologies can enhance efficiency by detecting leaks, tracking usage, and promoting conservation. Yet technology in itself cannot be the answer. Water security in the long run can only happen through good governance and sustainable pricing mechanisms, and, finally, active community role in the water management process. Citizens need to understand that every drop saved today is a guarantee for future generations to enjoy clean water.
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