Dr Dilip Bandodkar, a dentist by profession has been implementingwater harvesting since 2007. His clinic, located on a hillock in Khadpabandh,Ponda has been serving the purest form of water to his patients and staff.
Dr Bandodkar narrates how he got the idea of waterharvesting, “In the six years that I studied in Ahmedabad, I could not drinkthe water at room temperature because it was hard and salty. When I visited afriend seven years ago, to my surprise, the water served was as good as mineralwater, completely fresh and sweet. Onquizzing him about it, I learnt that it was a result of water harvesting.”
When the location for the clinic which was at a heightwas finalised, Dr Bandodkar realised that there was a problem in the supply of water. He suggested the idea of water harvesting toarchitect K D Sadhale who readily agreed. The roof of the clinic has beendesigned in such a way that the water gets collected at one point and flows inthe tank through a simple muslin cloth. Dr Bandodkar adds “We built theunderground tank with a capacity of 25000 litres with an excess capacity of 30litres which overflows through a pipe when the tank is full. The rain water inthe first 15 days of the monsoons is not collected. During this time, the roofgets cleaned automatically and we take the opportunity to clean the undergroundtank. The tank has been designed in such a way that two-three people can goinside without getting suffocated.”
The water stored is used for all purposes. DrBandodkar’s huge garden makes him fall short of stored water for about a month.Had the garden not been there, the water stored during the monsoons would besurplus.
Dr Bandodkar feels rain water which is the primarysource is the purest form of water and is god’s gift which should be utilised. Beforesigning off, Dr Bandodkar says, “At present, the project is a little expensive whencompared to municipal water because the government gives us water at a minimalcost. But the satisfaction of using the purest form of water and doing mylittle bit to conserve nature is priceless!”
