Bengaluru: A small initiative to mandate aerators for taps in commercial spaces and apartment complexes has resulted in significant water savings.
Since last summer, around 15 lakh taps in Bengaluru have been fitted with aerators, saving nearly 10 crore litres of water a day — about 5% of the city’s daily supply, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has said.
"Ten crore litres is not a small number. This is just the minimum savings that we have calculated. But depending on the size of the establishment and usage, the savings might be much higher. In the long run, this will translate into saving crores of rupees,” said Ramprasat Manohar V, Chairperson, BWSSB.
He added that preventing water wastage had a profound impact on the environment.
Close to five lakh apartments, 4,000 government offices, and 32,000 houses have installed aerators so far.
During the acute water crisis of summer 2024, the BWSSB introduced several measures to curb wastage, including making aerators mandatory for all public taps, apartment complexes, restaurants, industries, and commercial establishments.
However, senior BWSSB officials said that not all establishments had complied with the order, and many hoteliers and businesses were yet to install aerators.
"We have been urging them to install aerators. We also print the message on the water bill. However, we have not been able to achieve 100% coverage,” a senior BWSSB official said.
A hotelier from Yelahanka said he had not installed an aerator because taps in his establishment needed frequent repairs. "I did install an aerator last May, but it stopped working after a few days. Besides, since many people use our taps, I felt there was no point in installing a new one. Taps keep getting repaired owing to rough use by the public,” he said.
Manohar said the board was persuading more establishments to follow the rule and expected many more aerators to be installed by next summer as awareness increased.
Aerators reduce water consumption by increasing the pressure of the flow from taps.
Senior BWSSB officials said they could help bring down usage by at least 60%.