Quantification of Water Efficiencies in Residential Buildings Through a Case Study

According to the composite water management index report of the National Institution of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog published in the year June 2018, India is facing extreme water stress crisis wherein, a figure close to 600 million people in the country are bereft of safe drinking water with nearly 70% of water being contaminated. There is a stern need of suitable-sustainable strategic water management programs considering the immense exertion of pressure on water resources due to increasing urban needs, climate changes and efforts to formulate within the framework of limited supply-to-growing demands. Some of the key features of proficient water-supply management are to ensure robust planning based on water consumption, harnessing the rainwater resource and implementation of plumbing networks with efficient fixtures. The present study focuses on computations of water consumption indices for a typical G + 3 residential building considering both conventional and rooftop rainwater as sources of water supply using respective plumbing layouts. Further, the water efficiencies are obtained for the cases of both conventional water fixtures and water-efficient fixtures. The results of the study showed a potential possibility of water-saving practice by 28% with the use of water-efficient fixtures and a water conservation index of 1.7 was obtained, a value close to the recommended range of 2–9 documented in several literature.