And time flies....

Landed on this page accidently and thought why not jot a few lines. Am sure just like me those who followed me too have abandoned this blog :).

Daughter is back with us and has now joined as a trainee. She comes home tired and the other day heard her asking her father how I manage my cooking after work. Am sure she never realized it until now. Even I was just like her at her age and was much reluctant to spend time in the kitchen. But now am a seasoned cook and a homemaker. Somewhere along the way I even started enjoy cooking! Maybe it is the urge to eat tasty food and to serve it to others. Daughter cooks too and very tastefully. But now she is very busy.

Out here Summer is at it's peak and I read cities in India are running out of water. It seems more cities will join by the year 2020. It is a dismal scene and will be disastrous if immediate action is not taken. Think it is time for India to declare water emergency.

An impending water crisis on a scale hitherto unrecorded in recent history is predicted by 2020. Unless some miracle happens, it would mean groundwater touching zero by next year in 21 cities nationwide. That such a catastrophe was waiting to happen was known. In fact, this very alarming prognosis was underlined in the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) report released by NITI Aayog in 2018. But it failed to attract the attention it deserved, given the national preoccupation with the recently concluded general elections.

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/from-the-viewsroom/the-water-emergency/article28117923.ece

The best way to develop an efficient water cycle is to reuse it whenever and wherever possible. For instance, you can collect water from washing veggies and fruits and reuse it for watering the garden.

Using recycled water for flushing can help bring down your water bills by 30-40 per cent. Collect water from your RO filters in a container and reuse it to wash utensils or mop the floor.

Trap rainwater by installing Rain Water Harvesting systems and reuse it during summers when taps in many Indian cities run dry. It’s not as expensive as you think and can even be retrofitted on an existing house.

https://www.thebetterindia.com/175497/save-water-conservation-home-world-water-day-india/

Monsoon in Kerala this year is weak and last year's flood has disrupted the ground water table too. It is time to count every drop and save.....

Fight for water..

CHENNAI: Following escalating protests in Tamil Nadu over Karnataka’s opposition to the Hogenakkal drinking water supply project, bus services were suspended on the Udhagamandalam-Mysore route on Wednesday.
KSRTC buses were blocked in Sathyamangalam, Erode, and a restaurant was ransacked in Chennai. Panic gripped the busy commercial hub near the Madras High Court in the city after a group of persons, condemning outfits in Karnataka opposed to the water supply project, ransacked a restaurant on Armenian Street.


Although water is the commonest stuff on earth, only 2.53 per cent of it is fresh, while the rest is salt. And of the freshwater, two thirds is locked up in glaciers and permanent snow cover. What is available, in lakes, rivers, aquifers (ground water) and rainfall run-off, is now increasingly coming under pressure from several directions at once.



So when shall we start waging wars for this precious commodity? I hear that there are MNC’s buying lakes so that they can use it for bottling water. I don’t know if lakes and rivers can be owned. But all I know is that we are not giving water its due respect.

Less than 3% of water is freshwater (much of it groundwater that has accumulated over time and is virtually nonrenewable. Rainwater is thus critical; the "global water cycle accounts for the only naturally renewable source of fresh water, that is, precipitation that occurs over land."12 Aquifer pumping is reducing our water resources. People living in arid regions, and even some not so arid regions, have been relying heavily on groundwater resources that accumulated over thousands of years. Removing this water at such rapid rates spends this resource many times faster than it can be replaced, leads to the deterioration of what water is left, and also can cause collapse of aquifers.

And in many states of India we have enough and more rain but yet we do nothing. We have filled up all the streams and paddies so that the water gets no chance to seep into the ground. Instead all those precious water is wasted in the vast oceans.
Rain water harvesting is the only remedy and it has to done urgently since we cannot reclaim all those lost ponds, streams and fields. Every house and commercial buildings need to have a rain water harvesting system built. The state needs to look into low cost options for the same.


WHO gives the following 10 facts on water:

Fact 1
World Water Day is celebrated every year on 22 March. The theme for 2007 is ‘water scarcity’. Even in areas with plenty of rainfall or freshwater, water scarcity occurs. Because of the ways in which water is used and distributed, there is not always enough water to fully meet the demands of households, farms, industry, and the environment.
Fact 2
Water scarcity already affects every continent and four of every ten people in the world. The situation is getting worse due to population growth, urbanization and the increase in domestic and industrial water use.
Fact 3
By 2025, nearly 2 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water shortage, where water resources per person fall below the recommended level of 500 cubic metres per year. This is the amount of water a person needs for a healthy and hygienic living.
Fact 4
Water scarcity forces people to rely on unsafe sources of drinking water. It also means they cannot bathe or clean their clothes or homes properly.
Fact 5
Poor water quality can increase the risk of diarrhoeal diseases including cholera, typhoid fever, salmonellosis, other gastrointestinal viruses, and dysentery. Water scarcity may also lead to diseases such as trachoma, plague and typhus. Trachoma, for example, is strongly related to a lack of water for regular face washing.
Fact 6
Water scarcity encourages people to store water in their homes. This can increase the risk of household water contamination and provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes - which are vectors for dengue, dengue haemorrhagic fever, and malaria and other diseases.
Fact 7
Water scarcity underscores the need for better water management. Good water management reduces breeding sites for disease vectors, which leads to reduced transmission of malaria, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis and Japanese encephalitis.
Fact 8
Millennium Development Goal number 7, target 10 aims "to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation". The world is still on track to reach the drinking water target, but increasing water scarcity may seriously undermine progress towards achieving this goal
Fact 9
Everyone needs water and everyone needs to take responsibility. Actively support governments, non-governmental organizations and private foundations which are making it a priority to deliver affordable good quality water to people.
Fact 10
Do your part by conserving, recycling and protecting water more efficiently.

Bucket of Water

Most of us sleeping in A/C rooms atleast here in Kuwait, have experienced parched lips and dry skins while waking up in the morning. A month back a friend suggested keeping some water in a bucket. And it worked! I guess the theory behind is simple. The evaporated water provides sufficent moisture to the circulating air.

2 days back we forgot this and my son woke up with cracked lips and even my lips were beginning to crack.

Wish we had know this trick earlier.

Water

We have heard a lot about water and it's wonderful benefits to our health. We are asked to drink minimum 8 glasses of water in a day and to start the day with a glass of water.

Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active.

but this is the frist time I am reading about cold water!

But it makes sense .. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals ..not cold water. Maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain...

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you.

It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion.

Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine.
Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

Anyway I am sure most of us dont relish a glass of hot water after our meal but I have seen many who prefer hot water.


Indications You Need More Water
One of the main causes of constipation is insufficient water. You can use this as an indicator: if you have two or three soft, easy bowel movements a day you are unlikely to be dehydrated. There are other dietary factors involved, but water is cardinal.

Poor skin accompanies both constipation and dehydration and is a clear indicator.

Tiredness and sluggishness when there is no other apparent cause.

Thirst.

Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish its water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water.

To ward off dehydration and make sure your body has the fluids it needs, make water your beverage of choice. Nearly every healthy adult can consider the following:

Drink a glass of water with each meal and between each meal.
Hydrate before, during and after exercise.
Substitute sparkling water for alcoholic drinks at social gatherings

Rain water harvesting.

Today we had a discussion on water. The most precious natural resource that we have on earth and whose value is increasing day by day due to its ever increasing scarcity. That is when I recalled a conversation that I had with my Colleague who hails from Chennai. Chennai has always faced water problems since no major river flows through it. It depends mostly on the monsoon for water. But with the rain water harvesting technique, implemented by the former Chief Minister – Jayalalitha, he was saying that the ground water level has increased and they do not face water scarcity like before. Each house has implemented the system whereby the rain water during the monsoon season is collected and stored. Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rain from roofs or from a surface catchment for future use. The water is generally stored in rainwater tanks or directed into mechanisms which recharge groundwater. This is appropriate in many parts of the world, such as western Britain, China, Brazil, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Germany, Australia and India.

I also read that this technique was made use even 4,000 years ago! It was in Lothal, the ancient town of Harappa in Gujarat. Lothal is called the “mount of dead” since it is a very dry region. But it was a thriving port in yesteryears. It is proved that they had fascinating terraquaculture system — integrated land and water use practices. Click for further read.

I believe it is time each country pursued water conservation more seriously before we end up fighting major wars for water. State like mine which is blessed by abundant rain should invest in rain water harvesting systems and maybe this should be either made compulsory or the state should offer subsidy.

http://www.rwh.in/