Green Business Ideas – Sell water at the price of petrol – and reap the ‘fringe’ benefits.

While the United Nations and the top environmental organization around the world are working non-stop to spread the knowledge on the importance of Food and Water, their success in limited. The reason is simple. They haven’t yet shown the money making aspect of it.

Selling water is the Next big business which can make a pauper a King in the coming years. In this article, I shall attempt to give a few ideas of how to amass the wealth. But before that let me set the perspective.

It is a common knowledge that the World’s fresh water is only 3% of the total available water. 97% of the water on Earth is salt water. Of the 3%, water found at the Earth’s surface in lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, and swamps makes up only 0.3% of the world’s fresh water! 68.7% of the fresh water on Earth is trapped in glaciers. 30% of fresh water is under the ground.

It is also a fact that the World is heading towards a Food crisis, with the World population heading 9 Billion strong and slated to grow, despite the Climate change due to Global Warming. And it must be fed. And to grow food one needs fertile land and water. And therefore one does not need anyone to have an IQ above 300 to deduce the situation as DIRE. As with ever increasing unplanned Urban sprawl, land use change  is happening at break-neck speed, which paves over fertile agricultural land into “housing plots”  and in the process pushing the agricultural land either into virgin forests or less cultivable areas where only meagre existence is possible, possibly because of a lake or pond near by, which fills up during monsoon. But as soon as these areas becomes habitable, being at the Urban fringe the sale value of land far outstrips the reason to maintain it for agriculture. Thus lakes and ponds along with small rivulets get filled up and paved over to create another concrete jungle.

In the sate of Maharashtra, India; 5000  Villages do not have a drop of Water. Similar are the tales in other states of India. They have to rely everyday for water-bearing tankers for even the very basic need of cooking and hygiene.Almost all the big metropolis bring water to the city by denying the rightful owners of the lakes in far-off villages; Delhi 300 Km , Mumbai 100km. Almost 80% of the people living in the City of Mumbai have no idea about the source of the potable water reaching their homes daily – river Bathsa , Vaitarna, are names  not known to many.

A south  Mumbai ( posh) locality girl when asked on TV about the source of the water, considers that water comes from the tap ! Sure it does so that one can have a pool party while the people of the villages near the rivers and lakes, which feed the cities walk around 1000 KM per year, just to collect drinking water. Some need to walk as much as 5KM per day. As it is not possible for a mother to carry all the water required, they press into service girl-child as small as 8-10 yrs old to help collect water!

Before the British ruled India, in the Kingdom of Mysore (a district near Bangalore, Karnataka, India ) had around 40,000 lakes. The Maharaja of Mysore used to spend from his treasury 50% of the expense required and the other 50% came from the villagers either in form of money or labour for the up-keep of these water bodies.As there was involvement of all, there was a sense of belonging among the people and the lakes thrived. With the fall of Tipu Sultan, the British started to rule the state. Among many atrocities, the greatest folly they committed was that while they taxed the people of the state for use of water, they did not contribute in either up-keep or creation of new water bodies. This led to people slowly lose the bond they had with the lakes and ponds and in time they were lost. The story was the same all over India under British rule. At one time New Delhi boasted of nearly 800 ponds. In time Indians valued land more than water, and price of land with modern times rose to such an extreme that today we see ponds and lakes as prime real estate, waiting to be filled up and built upon !

As surface water bodies were destroyed, we in our need of water, dug deeper and deeper bore-wells reaching to the very bed-rock. We have sucked out water to such an extent without keeping any provision for replenishment that almost all our Megalopolis have scarcity of water. Mumbai has a short-fall of 1.8 Million litre of water per day!

We have even managed to empty the underground water table. It takes 100,000 years  for rainfall to percolate and fill a water table!

Our  lackadaisical attitude, combined with greed and ignorance is such a heady cocktail that today we have been able to completely kill 600KM of the sacred river Yamuna ( all other Indian rivers have more or less the same fate) so much so that the water flowing in it is nothing but discharge from the sewers of New Delhi which reaches the holiest city of Vrindawan. Not content with that, the Industrial Estate which were set up at the fringe of the Megalopolises; with complete disregard to rules and in connivance with State the Pollution Board & Environment officials dig deep-bore wells and discharge highly toxic waste into the water table. Substance like Arsenic, Fluorides, Lead, Mercury and Cadmium either go into the Rivers directly or into the ground-water table. It has been found that around certain regions of Delhi, the Spinach which is grown and considered a very healthy food, has a few 100 times more than the “permissible” ( a corrupt corporate practice followed all around the world ) limit as envisaged under the food & drug act and the pollution control board.

And we all know that, lead -arsenic-mercury-cadmium poisoning can not be good for the health.  Yet, successive governing agencies have not only allowed industrial discharge into the rivers and aquifers, but have been lax in checking or finding a solution more conducive. Furthermore treated industrial water, foolishly thought to have been completely decontaminated is used for irrigation, thus permanently poisoning not only the area around the industrial waste but everywhere and everyone who come in contact with the food or food product around the Country.

This knowledge is slowly percolating down the thoughts of the common person through sustained campaign by NGO’s. And they are starting to ask questions to the administration which in India has a default setting of being reactionary rather than pro-active. The link in above image  tells us how much percentage of water is safe drinking water.

But the problem is that we have exploited the water system to such an extent, we are left with nothing to fall back on. Today, it is shameful to call our Nation a progressive one because more than 80% of India still depends on the yearly rain-fall to grow crops. We have made a hash of our irrigation scheme and decontaminating our rivers. And the recent irrigation scam unearthed has perhaps taken us back by decades in this effort.

Simply put, without fresh water life is not possible. Because whatever age of civilization we might happen to be, the 3 basics – Food, Clothing & Shelter would stay in same order of importance. And for growing food we need WATER.

Therefore the best Green Business Idea today for millions of Rural Indians would be to create their own village comity and practice the age-old wisdom of capturing rain-water. The famous stepped-well of the western India to the lakes and ponds which belonged to the village community should be revamped.

So what is the revolutionary idea in it? Every water expert worth his salt has written tomes of books on it. Well, as per my knowledge goes no one has written about what I am suggesting.

Declare water as a “cash crop” and “essential commodity”. Price each liter of water to the same price of Petrol! Allow it to be traded in the stock market and let market forces govern it. While protecting the poor and the economically weaker section through grants and subsidy, as it has been doing for petroleum products.

Lets look at a few hypothesis –

The moment the government announces a scheme that it shall pay for conservation  of water and allow for trade of lets say 500 million liters of water per day say  at Rupees 10/ litre of water from every rural district of India to feed the city and industries, within one year each and every dried and neglected pond and lake would be spruced up in every village across India with each villager eagerly awaiting the advent of monsoon.

The village panchayats ( elected administrative body) would not allow any pilferage of  funds, which happens in the grandest scale in India and actually build the water reservoirs. It would also ensure that plantation of trees do take place and stop the denudation of the rain-forest, which is principal in retaining the ground water and reduces evaporation.

Let us now take the water requirement of Mumbai. The city’s water requirementis  4250mld. (million liters per day ).  However, it receives only 3,350mld. Six lakes in and around Mumbai supply water to the city. Upper Vaitarna supplies 630mld, Modaksagar 455mld, Tansa 407mld, Vihar 110mld, Tulsi 18mld and Bhatsa 1,900mld. However, 20% of the supply (or 600mld) is lost due to leakages and theft. Moreover, the supply from Vihar and Tulsi lakes is mainly used for industrial purposes.

And what would happen should the government increase the tariff to Rupees 30 /per litre ? The land-sharks who grab prime land meant for parks would be booted out of cities along with their political protectors and citizens would comply with zeal and gusto all municipal directives for rain water harvesting and ground water recharge within their residential societies. Recycle of grey and  black water would become norm. For no water guzzling Indian citizen would like to pay that kind of price for water. They would be better off having their own supply and earn a few million form the government scheme by petitioning it to make it applicable to them too. After all why should the villagers have all the fun?

And if the tariff be raised to Rupees 50/per litre ? Corporates would kick into action and innovation in building design and town planning would be in the lines of building sustainable cities. The unplanned Urban sprawl would be arrested and pristine open ground, parks and lakes within the city limits would become norm. Rivers would get cleaned up and offending industries and municipalities penalized.

Further not only the city dwellers would save the precious water but actually find the ways to trade in water. Just as the large oil tankers berth into our ports, so would Indian water tankers berth into theirs, pumping out the precious water for  the dry and parched countries, which have also been growing in size and population. And desalinated water may be less a requirement, when the exchange rate between the Indian Rupee vs their money is factored. Indian water could turn out to be a cheaper option.

For long experts have been asking governments to charge the actual tariff for water. Now, one can not only think of doing so, but actually be applauded for the effort. And in the process save the total ecosystem.

While with my limited knowledge I may not have got the concept right, but I am sure that experts in the World who understand money and geo-politics would find some currency in this idea because –

A few years ago, the BMC (municipal corporation of Mumbai city) had ambitiously proposed to the state government to draw water from phase II of the Koyna dam in Chiplun (Ratnagiri district), about 300km from Mumbai. The proposal to draw water from the Koyna dam may give 1,69,800 million litres of water on an annual basis to the city as well surrounding regions like Thane and Raigad. According to the state government’s plan, the project would cost about Rs40,000 crore.  According to officials of the water supply and sanitation department, the government discharges about 1,69,800 million litres of water from the Koyna dam to the Vashishthi river at Chiplun after generating power. The state government’s water supply and sanitation department had  decided to undertake the project on a build-and-operate basis. It had invited interest bids to which 12 companies have responded.

As one can see from above, the business of water is a superb business. But it is only understood by a few and exploited for good measure. There would be absolutely no doubt in the minds of ordinary Indians that of the Rs 400,000,000,000 a huge amount would line the pockets of many. While the rightful owner for right of first use to the water – people residing in Chiplun – would be denied even drinking water.

So would it not be possible that similar humongous amount of money be used for some of the concepts I have proposed above ? If the government could find and make popular the Renewable Energy Scheme under the National Action Plan for Climate Change; of the 8 action plan one is for Water !

In this planet the only thing that we human understand is money. Gold &    Black Gold    (petroleum) is hoarded because it has a stupendous price tag. Make water equally costly, give it the respect it deserves. Because, neither Gold nor petroleum can quench thirst! And it is important that all of us recognize this problem. For the very existence of civilization is dependent on it.

Related articles

• India Drowning in Waste, Experts Warn (ipsnews.net)
• South Asia’s water woes (dawn.com)
• The Aamir Khan Column: Thirst in the land of malhaar (thehindu.com)
• The disappearing water of Delhi. More serious than you think (ndtv.com)
• Indian communities face daily struggle for clean water (edition.cnn.com)
• Tensions Rise Over India’s Dam Project (huffingtonpost.com)
• Testing the Waters (neerajbhushan.com)
• How the Changing Monsoon Is Changing India (world.time.com)
• WATER: Prepare to face shocks (greenconduct.com)

 

Technical Manual for Sustainable Site Documentation.

SUSTAINABLE SITE DESIGN:

The purpose of sustainable site planning is to integrate design and construction strategies by modifying both site and building to achieve greater human comfort and operational efficiencies. It charts appropriate patterns of use for a site while incorporating construction methods that minimize site disruption and the expenditure of financial and building resources. The process is based upon the premise that any landscape setting can be analyzed and studied as a series of interconnected geological, hydrological, topographic, ecological, climatological, and cultural features and systems. Selecting a building site begins the process of calculating the degree of resource use and the degree of disturbance of existing natural systems that will be required to support a building’s development.

SITE ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT:

Site assessment is a process that examines the data gathered and identified in the site analysis, assigns specific site factors to hierarchies of importance, and identifies, where possible, interactive relationships.

Data collection:

Technical site data –

Geographical latitude (solar altitude) and microclimate factors, such as wind loads—

Affect building layout, including solar orientation and location of entrances, windows.

Topography and adjacent landforms—Influence building proportions, wind loads, drainage strategies, floor elevations, and key gravity-fed sewer-line corridors.

Groundwater and surface runoff characteristics— determine building locations as well as natural channels for diverting storm runoff and locations of runoff detention ponds

Solar access—Determines position of building to take maximum advantage of natural solar resources for passive solar heating, day lighting, and photo voltaic.

Ai r-movement patterns, both annual and diurnal— particularly influence sitting of multiple structures to avoid damming cold moisture-laden air, or blocking favorable cooling breezes during periods of overheating. Properly measured wind loads and pressure differentials are essential for designing interior air-handling systems or use of passive solar cooling strategies.

Soil texture and its load-bearing capacity—Determine building location on the site and the type of footing required. Identify site-grading processes by the soil’s potential for erosion by wind, water, and machine disturbance.

Parcel shape and access—Affect a site’s capacity to accommodate a proposed development, even if its size and environmental\ factors are favorable. Potential access points should not burden lower-density or less compatible adjacent land use. Zoning setbacks and easements can also affect development potential.

 Neighboring developments and proposed future developments—Affect proposed project and may lead to requisite design changes.

Analyze specific characteristics of climate zones: Climate has specific characteristics requiring mitigation, augmentation, and exploitation; there are 5 climatic zones in India.

Analyze the site’s existing air quality: Most state require an environmental impact assessment (EIA) outlining the potential negative impacts of a proposed development and how they might be alleviated. Site planning requires two kinds of air-quality analysis regarding: (1) assessment of the existing air quality of the site to determine the presence of noxious chemicals and suspended particulates, and (2) projection of the negative consequences (if any) of the proposed development on existing air quality. In primarily commercial or industrial areas, poor air quality should be a key factor in determining site suitability and use, especially for such facilities as schools, parks, or housing for seniors. Testing should anticipate seasonal or diurnal wind patterns to make certain that the worst possible case is tested.

Perform soil and groundwater testing: Perform soil tests to identify the presence of chemical residues from past agricultural activities (arsenic, pesticides, and lead); past industrial activities (dumps, heavy metals, carcinogenic compounds and minerals, and hydrocarbons); and any other possible contamination either on or in the vicinity of the subject site.

Test soil suitability for backfills, slope structures, infiltration: The native soil should be tested to determine bearing, compactability, and infiltration rates, and, in turn, structural suitability and the best method for mechanical compaction (i.e., clay soils require non-vibrating compaction and non-erosive angles of repose for cut-and-fill slopes).

Evaluate site ecosystem for existence of wetlands and endangered species: Preservation and restoration strategies require thorough economic analysis, specialized expertise, and sound baseline data gathered through both remote and on-site sensing methods.

Examine existing vegetation to inventory significant plant populations: This will enable the developer or owner to later specify vegetation that is susceptible to damage during construction, so that protective measures can be developed and implemented.

Map all natural hazard potentials (such as winds, floods, and mudslides): Historic flood data, wind-damage data, and subsidence data should be mapped along with current annual wind and precipitation data.

Diagram existing pedestrian and vehicular movement and parking to identify Patterns: Existing traffic and parking patterns in areas which are adjacent to or near the site may need consideration in relation to proposed building design and site circulation patterns.

Review the potential of utilizing existing local transportation resources: Explore the sharing of existing transportation facilities and other resources, such as parking and shuttles, with existing institutions. This can lead to greater site efficiencies.

Identify construction restraints and requirements: Special construction methods may be required because of local soil condition, geology, earth-moving constraints, and other site-specific factors and constraints.

Infrastructural data –

Analyze site for existing utility and transportation infrastructure and capacity: Existing infrastructure should be analyzed for integration into the building and facilities.

Historical Data –

Review architectural style of the area for incorporation into building: If desirable, the architectural style that is historically predominant in an area can be reflected in the building and landscape design, enhancing community integration.

DATA ASSESSMENT 

Identify topographic and hydrological impacts of proposed design and building use: Measure cut-and-fill potential and assess potential for erosion, siltation, and groundwater pollution.

Develop general area takeoff and overall building footprint compatibility with site: For example, measure total site coverage of impermeable surfaces to determine thresholds of run-off pollution potential (i.e., over 20 percent impermeable coverage of gross site requires mitigation to clean storm water before it enters drainage system off-site). Footprint should also maximize site efficiencies with regard to required road, utility, and service access.

Identify alternative site design concepts to minimize resource costs and disruption: Develop several alternatives to explore optimal pattern with regard to factors such as grading and tree-clearing consequences and resulting infrastructure costs.

Review financial implications of site development, building, and projected maintenance costs: Total cost of the project must factor in ongoing costs associated with the site design, development, and operations, as well as hidden embodied energy costs associated with specific materials.

Develop matrix of use and site compatibility index: Each site may be assessed to reveal its development compatibility index with regard to a specific type of development. This index may reveal a pattern of incompatibilities thereby specific appropriate mitigation measures are undertaken.

Courtesy: Nicholas T. Dines, author.

Related articles

• Weaving Health into the Land Use Planning Process: One Story (healthyandsustainable.wordpress.com)
• The Race to SITES Certification (dirt.asla.org)
• AQS, GREENGUARD to Host Interactive Forums on Critical IAQ Issues, Unveil New Scientific Findings at Indoor Air 2011 (prweb.com)
• Contaminated soil halts Havelock construction project (newdayunderwriting.wordpress.com)
• Spacesaver Products Earn GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification (prweb.com)
• WPL to Sponsor Multi-Media LEED AP O+M Exam Preparation Program (prweb.com)
• Sustainability Cash Incentive Encourages Protection of BC Oceanfront Community(prweb.com)