Water Conservation Drive

RajaPushpa Atria Owners Welfare Association (RAOWA) has approached the Atria Youth Initiative to spearhead a community-wide water conservation drive initiated by RAOWA. This is in recognition of the previous initiatives AYI has conducted in the community. 

The objective is to bring awareness to the Atria community on the imminent and serious threat of water shortage in the summer months. The main source of water for the community is the municipal supply (Manjeera water) which has been under stress recently due to water shortage, broken pipelines and the construction of many new communities that share the same water supply line. 

AYI drafted its own goals and targets and used data analytics, extrapolation and behavioural economics to bring the consumption down. We decided to publish daily water consumption reports with details on municipal supply and tanker purchase quantities, the amount spent on tankers that will be burdened on residents, as well as tips to reduce water consumption. The goal is to reduce the projected Rs.2000 per house monthly charges on the residents as much as possible.

After an intensive campaign through social media, digital displays and awareness events, we were able to reduce the water tariff from an estimated Rs.2000 per unit to Rs.951. This saved the community about Rs.11,57,000 ($13,900 approx.) in additional expenditure by just following best practices and conscious utilization.

Here is the monthly report for April:

Apart from monthly reports, here are a few daily reports that AYI sent for 50 days. 

Here is a video of the PSA our team made with a few volunteers about water conservation.

This initiative has been a very challenging and rewarding experience for Atria Youth Initiative. We have to reach out to residents from all walks of life and convince them about the importance of water conservation. We had to use many tools available like nudging based on self-interest, community interest, economic incentives etc. We also received recognition and accolades from community members for this successful effort.