Amidst the ongoing water crisis, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has banned the use of potable water in swimming pools in the city and asked all big construction projects only to use treated water.
The BWSSB issued an order on Tuesday (March 12) banning the use of potable water, which essentially means both water supplied by the BWSSB and borewell water to fill swimming pools. The board has said it will impose a fine of ₹5,000 for the first offence, and on subsequent offences, the fine would go up by ₹500 every day.
Swimming pools used for training sports personnel for national and international sporting events have been exempted.
“Usually, swimming pools are filled with borewell water and filtered regularly, and the water is changed once a month or even less frequently. So the pools won’t come to a halt immediately,” said B. Gopal Hosur, president of the Karnataka Swimming Association (KSA).
However, he said if they cannot use water from borewells to fill the pools, the only other source would be treated water, which is usually not used to fill the pools. “The mandate is to use it only for gardening and flushing toilets. This order will adversely impact swimming pools in the city and will mostly halt operations eventually,” he explained.
For construction
The BWSSB has also mandated the use of treated water in all construction projects above 20,000 sq. ft. in the city.
Board chairman V. Ramprasath Manohar met with leading builders on Tuesday and urged them to use only treated water for construction. A few days ago, the BWSSB banned the use of drinking water for various non-essential purposes, including construction.
The BWSSB assured builders of supplying treated water for construction purposes. The board is working on an online portal where anybody, including bulk users, can book treated water from the city’s STPs.
One kilolitre of treated water costs around ₹10. “In most foreign countries, treated water is used for construction purposes, and it is high time we started doing the same here as well,” Mr. Manohar said.
Suresh Hari, secretary, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) - Karnataka, said that the industry understood the grim situation and was open to using treated water. However, he said the supply has to be reliable.
“The construction industry is also one of the biggest job creators, and the livelihoods of lakhs of people will be affected if construction comes to a halt,” he said.
The challenge for the BWSSB to supply treated water to construction sites is the availability of water tankers for the purpose, sources said.
