Water Audit (WA)

Water is continuously moving around the earth and constantly changing its forms in the nature. Potable water is a scarce resource on this earth, it is precious. Increasing population, economic development, aging infrastructure and urbanization is resulting in severe pressure on this resource. The price of water is bound to increase, regulatory pressure on near-zero discharge will increase and the availability of quality water will become difficult. With continuous growth in country’s population, per capita availability of utilizable water is going down, whereas with ever-rising standard of living of people, all around rapid industrialization and urbanization, demand of fresh water is going up continuously. A comprehensive water use audit will examine the major areas in which a facility uses water, including sanitation, maintenance, mechanical systems, building processes and irrigation. For each of those areas, the water use audit will provide breakdown of the how, when and where of water use. In addition, water use audits will take into consideration the water quality. Some of the large potential savings that can be achieved is through the recycling of water and the use of rain water. Water audits can help identify potential uses and optimization of water use. Worldwide the consumption of water is doubling every two decades. Water audit is the most effective tool for water management. Through audit we identify and quantify what steps can be taken to reduce water use and losses. Water audits trace water use from its point of entry into the facility/system to its discharge into the sewer. The audit also identifies and quantifies unaccountable water losses, leaks at each point of use within and around the facility. This article deals with the water audit at a micro level and possible ways of water use reduction in the typical urban Indian household