How my father taught me not to waste water
In my childhood, one day I was beaten by my father for wasting water while cleaning our big roof. Loadshedding (power cut) was common those days. I used to clean the roof with buckets of water as we used to spend free time in the evening during hot summer days in Kolkata. From that day, I have been on a mission to Save Water.
It is not limited to planting a sapling, taking a photo, and posting on social media. It is a serious business. Water conservation is also an important point to work on. I have worked for a manufacturing company, and it was designed to consume no more than 400 KLPD (1000 x 400 Lits per day) of fresh water. I have asked for water balancing from our technical team. Fortunately, they could not produce enough reasoning or justification for consuming 400 KLPD of fresh water at 45 paisa per liter. We took that as a challenge and reduced water consumption through technical monitoring. I agree; we could motivate people around with a simple story. I told them to imagine….
Practical Problem, Although Imagined, but happened many times actually
No water supply from GIDC. To supply water, we have hired 40 tankers with a 10 KL capacity each. The entire road has been blocked by the tankers due to the slow decantation process. How many days we can sutain?
Sensitisation Works:
Sensitisation worked. Our consumption has never crossed more than 100 KLPD or 25% of the approved water consumption limit since the last 10 years. Later on, we amended by applying to Government agencies to reduce water consumption from 400 KLPD to 100 KLPD, to their surprise. It was required, as we have to pay 75% of the agreed daily consumption limit irrespective of the actual consumption. We are happy to save precious water resources; we are happy to save huge money for the company against consumption of water @ 50 paisa per litre.
Inspiration is bigger than Recognition:
One of my mentors, my ex-boss Mr R K. Sitani ji referred in our WhatsApp group about one of his instructions to the concerned department to save Water during his tenure as the President of a Unit. He had to replace the HOD to force change; technically, and due to Govt. pressure, timelines generally act against your willpower. Such changes are not easy; these are not even appreciated by the top management as well. Incidentally, we understood from our communication that our efforts remain recognitionless, but it satisfied us. My boss became the President of India’s largest Chemical Group companies. He will be remembered for many reasons, and one of them is as “Waterman”.