Conserving the elixir of life
By Ananta Taneja (XII-D)
What started as a life hack has now achieved national recognition! We are talking about Preservoir, an initiative started by Avishi Sahoo in 2019 to save water, that has won the Pramerica Spirit of Community Award this year. Avishi is a student of Class XII at Amity International School, Noida, who launched Preservoir with an aim to reduce water wastage across households and communities in India. The initiative focuses on the core of household water usage: Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifier by re-purposing the wastewater from these systems.
The inspiration came when Avishi noticed that, during purification, the RO water filter in her house wasted a lot of water. On her suggestion, her family began to use this discarded water for everyday domestic chores. When a few days later, their water filter broke down, her family bought 20-litre Bisleri bottles as a temporary solution. It was when the water filter got repaired that Avishi finally hit on award-winning idea. She proposed that the empty Bisleri bottles should be used to store wastewater from the RO system for later use. And this is how the basic concept of Preservoir was created.
The name Preservoir is the brainchild of some of her closest friends who have also helped her in this initiative. “I was thinking of simple names like ‘Zero water wastage’ but my friends, who are extremely creative, came up with ‘Preservoir’, a smart wordplay with the words ‘preserve’ and ‘reservoir’,” says Avishi.
No success is devoid of obstacles and Avishi also faced some challenges along the way. Using a big bottle was difficult since taking water out of bulky bottles usually resulted in a lot of spilling. It was decided to attach a tap to the container for easier access and to reduce the waste. The second challenge was convincing other households to implement this system in their kitchens as well. “The bottles took up a lot of space and were not very pretty to look at. But then, we got suggestions to paint the bottles or put some pictures and stickers to make it more eye-pleasing,” she says.
So far, this system has been installed in 22 households, one residential complex and three factories — one in Noida and others in Dehradun — who have all pledged to join the ‘Zero Waste Water Challenge’. These factories produce shoes, clothing and shoe compounds. Avishi is also in talks with a few more factories which produce toys and deal in export and import of goods. She says that it is difficult to get the exact data from all users, but many are keeping her updated on how the system is getting a great response due to the large amount of water that is being saved. As on March 31, 2021, she has been successful in saving more than 6,00,000 litres of water through this initiative.
Indeed, this is a great venture, especially for industrial units that have very large water purification systems. On an average, such units use 1,000 litres of water and waste more than 2,000 litres per day. With Preservoir, Avishi has also implemented a similar model for commercial set ups by setting up 2,000-litre storage tanks on the rooftop to collect wastewater from the RO plant and then connecting the wastewater tank to toilets flushing system and to the water reservoir for fire hydrants. This water is later used for flushing, recharging the ground water and even cleaning the premises. Though not fit for drinking, it can easily be reused for other chores without any required treatment.
Speaking about the importance of Preservoir at the micro level, Avishi gives the example of her own household. According to her, four people use approximately 10–12 litres of water every day for which around 20–24 litres wastewater is generated. This wastewater is then reused in her home. “Imagine, if one family can save so much water, sky is the limit if more and more families join hands to execute this project,” she says, hoping that, in future, she is able to expand this initiative to other countries that use RO systems in their households.
Interestingly, Avishi did not expect Preservoir to “become such a big deal” and also that she would go on to win an award for the same! She smiles at the memory of how she was quite satisfied with applying this system just in her own home. “My family and friends convinced me to expand Preservoir beyond my four walls. In fact, this has now given me a new career goal. I now want to pursue sustainable finance and impact investing.” In fact, she gives the major credit for her inspiration to her family and school. Her sister, especially, has been a role model when it comes to promoting a sustainable lifestyle.
Her school has also played an important role as one of the important values always being nurtured at Amity is to develop sensitivity towards our environment. Avishi firmly believes that her regular participation in Vasudha, a project-based event at Amity to encourage research and innovation among children, has played a major role in shaping her mindset. “I used to send e-mails about this initiative on a regular basis to my subject teachers and counselors and they always got back to me with suggestions and advice for improvement. I could not have done it without my school.”
She shows the same faith in the idea that even small steps can one day achieve major goals. And that change can happen even if one individual comes forward to begin with. Her message for the youth, therefore, is to start right away when it comes to conserving our natural resources. “Let’s not wait for the day when we regret not taking that first step,” she signs off.
Ananta Taneja is a student of Class XII at Amity International School, Vasundhara — 1. An avid reader with a flair for writing and experimenting with new ideas she is also the editor — in — chief of The Global Times, the student newspaper of her school. She loves listening to and even creating music on her guitar. Her curiosity for knowledge and experience often leads her to acquire new skills and languages. Socially concerned, she aims to make society and the world a better and safer place to live, a feeling she recognised as a Director of her school’s Interact Club. She strongly believes that every person should have completely unrestricted access to gain knowledge. She dreams to one day achieve this by expanding this movement and educating people of all ages. Aiming to increase consciousness about the planet’s alarming water crisis, she started the initiative ‘Take A Stand’ to raise awareness about saving water at an individual and local level.
