Water management
Water is the backbone of any economy and its living environment. In India, more than 70% of the population is dependent on water for agricultural work and approximately 15% for industries, such as textile, leather, and food processing. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6, ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, and its specific targets to be achieved by 2030 becomes even more pertinent in this context.
Water management and conservation and water-use efficiency are some of the key areas of Solidaridad’s interventions in India. In one such intervention in the leather sector, we focused on reducing freshwater supply in the tanneries with the use of a retrofitted solenoid valve. This created a potential reduction of freshwater use by around 1 million liters per day. What started with 10 tanneries has now scaled up to 135 tanneries in a short span of time, contributing directly to the larger objective of ‘Groundwater, making the invisible visible’.
Need of the hour
On World Water Day 2022 in New Delhi, Solidaridad Asia’s General Manager, Tatheer Zaidi, expressed gratitude for the award: “We are deeply honored to be recognized by the esteemed jury for one of our water-saving interventions in the tanneries — retrofitting of the fleshing process, which reduces groundwater use by 50 per cent. At a nominal investment of INR 8,500, it leads to high impact on water-use efficiency.”
With pollution a looming challenge, we realize that green recovery needs successful pilot demonstrations of techno-commercially viable practices and technologies.
Tatheer Zaidi, General Manager, Solidaridad Asia
The Water Sustainability Awards aim to encourage the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal on Water by way of reducing water footprint among various stakeholders through the adoption of the ‘water neutrality’ approach.
You Might Also Be Interested In
