Harvest rainwater? You may get 5% off water bill

Building owners who harvest rainwater will get a 5% discount in the water bill, according to a BWSSB plan to reduce the city's dependence on the Cauvery water.

The plan, which is still at the discussion stage, is similar to the 5% discount that the BBMP gives in property tax to owners who pay early.

The BWSSB is going for the carrot-and-stick approach to promote rainwater harvesting. Building owners who fail to instal rainwater harvesting will be penalised.

"We bring Cauvery water to the city from about 100 km away. Dependence on such a system must be reduced,” BWSSB Chairman N Jayaram said.

According to Jayaram, the BWSSB spends Rs 90 to purify 1,000 litres of water but gets only Rs 41 from the public. And it's ready to forego a further 5% for the sake of rainwater harvesting, he added.

It's been more than a decade since the BWSSB made rainwater harvesting compulsory for houses built on 30X40 feet or bigger plots of land. The compliance, however, has very low. Even residents who have complied often divert the harvested rainwater to the toilet, from where it reaches the stormwater drain.

Experts have warned that lack of rainwater harvesting and poor groundwater recharge were contributing to flash floods, which have become increasingly common in the city.

"If people adopt RWH effectively, they will get more benefits than the 5% rebate. We will soon launch an awareness programme towards this,” Jayaram said, adding the BWSSB would rope in NGOs.