Water conservation at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Punjab-recommendations and observations

Abstract

The technical aspect of this paper is water conservation. Water table is getting depleted in the area because of rapid withdrawal of water. University needs nearly twenty lakhs liters of water every day. Farmers in the adjoining areas also pump out lot of water required for irrigating paddy. Paddy needs 150 cm of water for growth stage.Part of it is met by monsoon and largely by pumping out of water. There had been a decline of 50-100 cm per year sin the water table in the last two decades. All this has led to the need for water conservation. It involves harvesting, recycling of water and improving infiltration. The campus works on the principle of zero discharge. It means we are not discharging water into any municipal drain or rivulet. Waste water is recycled through 1.5mlpd sewage treatment plant and used for horticulture. Roof top rainwater and storm water is harvested through ten rain water harvester located after proper hydrologic analysis. Interlocking tiles are preferred over impermeable pavement to improve infiltration.