Save water from that WATER PURIFIER!

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Hargun. For quite some time, she had been observing how the taste of water was going a bit bitter at some people’s homes. ‘This is due to new and improved water filtration technology’ , she was told. Then one day she saw this new technology water filter at her grandma’s. Excited, she held a glass to have some water for herself. To her surprise, as her glass filled, some amount of water drained from a reject water pipe attached to the filter. Curious, she went up to her grandma and asked her about it. ‘This is how it works, darling. This water you see here, its waste water and unfit to drink.’,her grandma explained. Years passed ,and each time  she went over to her grandma’s, she would see a lot of ‘waste’ water going down the drain. Unable to bear this sheer wastage of water, she talked to her grandma about it. By this time, her grandma too was troubled by the large quantities of water being discarded. So, a solution was thought up. The wise granny would let the pipe drain into a utensil instead of the sink. The water thus collected was  used for watering plants or cleaning purposes. Still, they were unable to save whole of it, her grandma being the only lady managing the household while others were caught up in the mad race against time. Now Fast forward  to the year ‘2015’.

Little Hargun has grown up, and she feels strongly not just about saving water, but to spread awareness about the issue.  Water, to her is the elixir of life. She does her best to do conserve all the water she can at her home, but what about the millions of other families ? Do they give their share in solving the ever increasing problem of water shortage? All apart, I don’t wish to elaborate on the dozens of ways by which you could possibly save water. I  want you to recognize this particular issue, understand  it ,analyze its implications and then decide if its worth your concern and if it is, what can you possibly do to mitigate the problem. So let me tell you the facts straight. The  ‘REVERSE OSMOSIS’ water purifiers  work by dividing the incoming water into two streams – purified water stream and the reject water stream in which all the impurities that were in the original water are rejected. But In order to purify, say a litre of water, these purifiers  reject a high percentage (around 80% of water  for most inefficient purifiers) and only 20% is recovered. Imagine a colony of 400 households, and assume each household is using RO system for consuming 50 litres water per day, the daily wastage will be to the tune of 20,000 litres! Since the RO purifiers are designed for treating even brackish water, these perform poorly in normal household conditions. This is because usual supply of water we get is pretreated fresh water from the municipality, it is largely usable with minimum filtration. So, Is there a solution to the issue? In my quest for an answer, I came across a water filter by renowed company claiming 0% water wastage. On delving deeper, I got to know it had a internal water tank which instead of rejecting the waste water stream, stored it. So ultimately, we need to do what my grandma does-use it  for cleaning the utensils or the floors to watering the plants. It doesn’t matter if it’s the storage tank or the water is collected directly from reject water pipe. And if you worry about the safety of using this water in the household chores, fret not. They have been actually using it for years. Now,I would feel satisfied if after reading this, you actually give your support to the cause, or help your household members who might be making efforts to save the water from going down the drain. I wouldn’t say discontinue use of RO purifiers or make you count its other disadvantages, that’s surely not my objective. I just want your apathy, awareness and a zeal to prevent this cause from  magnifying  the already existing problem of water shortage. Start small with your own home. Spread the word to your neighbors, friends,and peers.Refrain from being one of those urban citizens who don’t have the time to do something good or simply don’t care. Show your worth to the world by doing something for our mother nature, the humanity,our nation, our planet.

 Its small things citizens do, which make the difference-let your little thing be saving water.