Grey water to the rescue

The BBMP will soon start using recycled grey water from apartment complexes to take care of parks and playgrounds across the city.

Story so far: The Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation (CSEI), Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru Apartment Federation (BAF) and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will be working together to turn grey water into green.

• Currently, the BBMP uses water from borewells to maintain its green spaces. Given the water crisis and growing demand for clean water, this seems rather irresponsible.
• The aim of this project is to send treated wastewater to the BBMP’s horticulture department for proper use.

Why it matters: It isn’t like apartment complexes aren’t using recycled water anyway. It’s just that the resharing of the treated water does not happen in an organised manner. Because of this, a lot of the water eventually goes to waste. This project will streamline that process and ensure a minimal loss of water.

• What’s great is that Bengaluru treats 1,265 megalitres per day (MLD), and we’ll finally get to use it effectively.