WaterOur openwells, borewells and
aquifers
Rebuilding an urban water culture
Avinash Krishnamurthy
Biome Environmental Trust
Presented for ADDA Water Workshop III

Bangalore – living history
(100 years old)

Groundwater : Wells & Borewells

Wells : Weathered and fractured zones

Inside a Borewell
( Youtube clip: Channel Zenrainman , Borewell – workings, fissures and water in hard rock )
Ask for Borewell logs : See FAQ in http://groundwaters.in

Borewell : Water Quality
TDS : 400-500
(Within desirable
Limits of BIS 10500
2012)
Desirable : < 500
Permissible : 2000

Recharging directly into borewells
Need to be very very careful
About water quality

The pit has reach the silt layer
Pit and concrete rings
Placing of the rings
Recharge Well :The making of a recharge well

Recharge wells details
Silt and leaves trap in a stormwater drain
Covers : grilled or
perforated RCC

Rainwater sent for recharge
Recharging a bore well
Outlet pipe in recharge well

How much water do I use ?
Use Litres/person
Drinking 3
Cooking 4
Bathing 20
Flushing 40
Washing-clothes 25
Washing Utensils 20
Gardening 23
Total 135
Real Consumption range :
from 50 to 300 liters per person per day
National Town planning Norms :
Urban : 135 Lpcd
Rural (Karnataka) : 55 Lpcd

Multi sourcing : Increasing urban reality
(Case of Bangalore)
Piped Water : Cauvery River
• Unreliable/erratic ?
• Scarcity
• Infrastructure growth
• Too cheap
• 100km from B’lore
• 500m below B’lore
Ground Water :
Borewell
• Drying up
• Bad quality
Ground Water :
Tanker Water
• Availability ?
• Quality ?
• Cost ?
Bottled Water
•Groundwater

Multi sourcing : Increasing urban reality
(Case of Bangalore)
Piped Water : Cauvery River
• Unreliable/erratic ?
• Scarcity
• Infrastructure growth
• Too cheap
• 100km from B’lore
• 500m below B’lore
Ground Water :
Borewell
• Drying up
• Bad quality
Ground Water :
Tanker Water
• Availability ?
• Quality ?
• Cost ?
Bottled Water
•Groundwater
Demand management
Rainwater and Wastewater
reuse
Recharge Wells
Revived
Open wells

Bhoganandeeshwara Temple
KalyaniLegend has it that this is the source of the Dakshina Pinakini

Bhoganandeeshwara Temple
KalyaniLegend has it that this is the source of the Dakshina Pinakini
A Million Recharge Wells for Bengaluru

Plumbers, well diggers………

Resources
www.bengaluru.urbanwaters.in

http://tiny.cc/wfjb4y
BANGALORE WELL MAPPING-BIOME

HOW TO ADD YOUR WELLS AND WELLS YOU COME ACROSS IN
BANGALORE
Access the Google form at http://tiny.cc/izjb4y and fill the questionnaire to get your wells
added to the Bangalore Well Mapping or mail details at rsshivanand@gmail.com

Biome Environmental Trust
Biome Environmental Solutions Pvt Ltd
Avinash Krishnamurthy
9341324692
avinash@biome-solutions.com
www.biometrust.org
www.biome-solutions.com
www.bengaluru.urbanwaters.in

Karnataka GW Act 2011
• Karnataka GW (Regulation, Control of development and management) Act 2011, rules 2012
• Groundwater Authorities Created at District Level (GWA). Areas where groundwater
overexploited are “notified” and GWA regulates development of groundwater in these areas.
• Entire Bangalore – Urban and Rural – notified.
• BWSSB an integral part of this authority for Bangalore Urban. BWSSB also Borewell registering
authority in Bangalore Urban
• All existing borewells to be registered (Forms available online – details in Biometrust.blogspot.in,
“I want to dig a borewell, how do I go about with this?”)
• New borewells need a permit. (Forms available online – details in Biometrust.blogspot.in, “I want
to dig a borewell, how do I go about with this?”)
• Permit will be provided or rejected by GWA with or without conditions.
• Borewell can be dug after permissions from a registered Drilling agency (All drilling agencies need
to be registered with the GWA)
• Drilling agency to submit a report to GWA on the drilling of borewells and relevant data to the
authority on a monthly basis
• Borewell users to put a meter on the borewell and submit usage data on a monthly basis.

Registered borewells: 319211 (July 2016)
Actual no of borewells : 400,000 ++(+++?)