Mangaluru: Even as the world readies itself for World Water Day on March 22, the immortal lines from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of The Ancient Mariner rings true and loud. “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink,” the oft quoted line from Coleridge brings one to the theme of this year’s World Water Day – Accelerating Change, a trait that Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) continually strives for.
Given that conservation and recycling are the universally accepted norms to preserve the one most precious resource on the planet – namely water, MIA does precisely that. If aerators in washrooms help optimise water consumption and thereby its conservation, the amount of wastewater recycled at the airport promoted the other norm. The annual wastewater recycled by MIA is equivalent to 1.6 times the total volume of Dubai aquarium tank at Dubai Mall.
Annual reuse of treated wastewater by MIA has resulted in reduction of freshwater consumption, which can serve 80 households for their annual potable water requirements. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has suggested 135 litre/capita per day (0.135 KLD) as the benchmark for every individual. Illustrating this point further, the annual wastewater recycled by MIA is equivalent to 6 times the size of Olympic swimming pool, which holds 2.5 million litres of water.
The recycling and conservations measures taken by the airport are a testimony to the commitment to use this precious life saver resource judiciously. World Water Day is an annual international observance day celebrated annually to focus on the importance of freshwater. In 1993, the United Nations designated the first World Water Day. Countries around the world celebrate this day and tackle every problem of water by saving and protecting it for future use.
