Smart bathrooms for reusing wastewater

While the country is blessed with some of the largest river systems in the world, water scarcity is fast becoming India's number one woe. The increasing need of water of growing population has resulted in the decline of per capita availability of fresh water sharply from 3,000 cubic meters to 1,123 cubic meters over the past 50 years.

In urban areas, the situation is worse as only one-third of homes have drinking water facility from a treated tap source, and only one-fifth have closed drainage connectivity.

On the occasion of World Water Day, in line with the theme identified by the United Nations, “Why Waste Water?” we too should pledge to reduce and reuse wastewater in our everyday lives.

Given that water is majorly used for sanitation across the country, smart bathrooms and toilets are the way forward to contribute to water management solutions. Innovative products like digital faucets, electronic toilets, waterless urinals come with smart functionalities, thus making them a great fit for any modern day bathroom.

Water used in showers, toilets and sinks account for approximately three-fourth of the water used in our daily lives and hence bathroom is a great place to start making water conscious decisions this ‘World Water Day’.

• While a leisure time in the shower is much needed once in a while, spending less time in the shower is the first step one can take to save water. Keep your smartphone in the bathroom and time yourself by how many songs play while you're in there. Limit your shower time to a single song.
• Using a bucket is always better than a shower when it comes to water conservation.
• Constant tap drips can lose more gallons of water a day and should be immediately fixed.
• One of the major leaks that goes unnoticed is a toilet flush leak. Refrain from flushing things down the toilet to dispose them off.

By KE Ranganathan