Bengaluru, the IT hub of India, has been dealing with a severe water crisis in recent weeks.
The residents of the city are facing challenges in performing daily tasks, compelled to spend over Rs 5,000 per month on tanker services.
Lalithamba Vishwanathiah, a resident of Bengaluru’s HSR Layout, concerned with the amount of water wasted while handwashing, came up with an interesting solution.
She devised the idea of using aerators and water restrictors that can be simply affixed to a tap to instantly cut water usage by three times as compared to handwashing.
An aerator is fixed on the top nozzle and the restrictor is fixed between the water inlet and the tap. “The installation process takes hardly two minutes,” she informs.
While she acknowledges that taking top-down approaches — such as rainwater harvesting, recharging wells and sewage treatment plants — is important, she emphasises also exploring bottom-up ways.
“We cannot [always] expect the Central Government to step in and solve our local issues. It is up to us as citizens to come together and solve them,” she says.
Lalithamba decided to target places like schools, conference halls and marriage homes where the consumption of water is quite high.
So far, she has installed more than 125 aerators in these spots. In doing so, she claims she has helped save 18 lakh litres of water, spending only Rs 12,000 on the installations.“These devices, hardly costing Rs 100, help save an average of 10 litres a minute. Over a month, this can make up for its costs,” she shares.
Lalithamba notes that numerous CSR funds are being allocated to construct community toilets and wash areas. She urges that these devices be incorporated into tap installations during construction and when replacing old taps.