What is Urban Water Management and Why it is Need of the Hour

That’s the thing with terms that sound simple. When down to the brass tacks, they are the ones that need the most planning and understanding for their execution to be flawless. Urban water management; sounds simple? Managing water in the urban areas. Also, it is simple in a way. But do you know what goes into not only maintaining but also constantly upgrading the urban water infrastructure? The management, the utilisation as well as the development of water resources in order to satisfy and fulfill a plethora of water-based demands is roughly what urban water management is all about. Doesn’t seem so easy now, does it?

Any urban city has a pre-defined capital that is assigned to taking note and taking care of the water resources that are allocated to it, be it natural water resources like lakes, seas, rivers etc.; man made ones like dams, or one of the most important ones: rainwater. All of this makes for the input of water in an urban setting.

Systems which ensure you open a tap in your kitchen, or turn on the shower in your washroom, and are greeted with a gush of water which is not only ever-present but also hygienic enough, constitute water management.

In order to be called a successful urban water management system, one needs to ensure the following:

There is a constant supply of water.

• The quality of drinking water is maintained and improved.
• Waste water is amply treated and brought back in the system and reused.
• The system ensures that at the end of the day, the process is economically viable and sustainable for future operations to run smoothly.
• The system makes optimum usage of alternative water resources and reclaims water.
• People are made aware of the workings, and also inducted and engaged into how their needs and the system need to work hand-in-hand.
• Proper and sustainable policies are put in place to make sure all of the above points are covered.

While we face a water crisis that is now making a steady in-way into the urban areas, we all need to come together, educate ourselves on how these systems work and find out ways in which we can aid their smooth functioning. Join a cause that is doing the same, such as the Harpic-News18 Mission Paani, a platform that focuses on spreading awareness about the impending water crisis; which may not be so much impending as already arrived.

Do your bit. Help the nation out!