Live with Water

The project aims to design a school education programme for students of grades 6-8 to generate awareness on treated wastewater use and it potential for water sustainability.

The increasing growth in population in India has adversely impacted the country’s per capita water availability. With 21 major cities (including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad) racing towards zero groundwater levels, and reeling with pollution, about a 100 million people are struggling to gain access to water. In case of the national capital, sewage and other pollutants draining into the water bodies further compounds the problem. Added to Delhi’s water woes in summers due to its water supply being dependent on neighbouring states a need to look for alternate sources of water to the feed the increasing water demands becomes crucial.

This thus highlights the potential using treated wastewater as it can not only does help foster water reuse but also prevent polluted water from being discharged into clean water sources.

With this in mind the project aims to design a school education programme to augment and sustain an extremely critical natural resource - water. This programme with its three-pronged approach with work towards enhancing knowledge, building capacity and facilitate action to increase wastewater use to meet increasing water demand for health and sanitation. By providing an overview of the prevailing water scenario (both regional and national level) for the students (of grade 6-8, i.e. 12-15 years) through innovatve educational approaches, the project seeks to make the progamme relevant for students.

In addition, by engaging them to find possible measures to innovatively use wastewater and reduce demand for clean water, encouraging behavioural change to accept treated wastewater for water sustainability in their city, the project aims at building a cadre of water sensitive generation.