In the wake of the water crisis, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has made it mandatory to install aerators or flow restrictors to all public taps in the city and has even appealed to households to install them voluntarily. However, wholesalers and retailers dealing with aerators in the market said there has only been a slight bump in the sales.
“There are definitely more inquiries. But at the same time, there is a lot of confusion, and people end up installing the wrong product,” said Gautam Surana, founder and director of Eco365, a private firm that helps clients conserve water and reduce plastic waste, among other services.
Bhaskar K., a sanitary store owner on SJP Road, said: “Before, nobody really asked for the aerators. Now, the sales have gone up a bit”.
Aerators are said to restrict the flow of water and help save up to 65–80%. “Aerators have an auto-adjusting flow rate mechanism; it restricts and gives you a defined flow rate,” says Mr. Gautam.
Despite the various uses and the BWSSB’s attempts to spread awareness, the rise in its usage has not been significant. Ganesh, an employee at Mari Swamy and Co. in K.R. Market, said that many people were inquiring about aerators, but sales had not gone up significantly.
The price of aerators starts at ₹20 in wholesale retailers and ₹70 in local stores. Ruman, a store owner in Shivajinagar, says that sales have been bulk orders for “commercial buildings. Most of them are for office and apartment buildings.”
A “green star rating” has been assured to restaurants and apartments that install aerators and take other water conservation measures by the BWSSB.
BWSSB extends deadline
Given that there has been no enthusiastic response to the adoption of aerators in the city, the BWSSB has extended the deadline for the same twice. Initially announced on March 21 with a March 31 deadline, the BWSSB extended it to April 7. However, as April 7 neared and there was no effective implementation of the norm, the board again extended the deadline till April 30.
Meanwhile, the BWSSB has recently said that as per their survey aerators have been installed for 2.86 lakh public taps. However, there is a long way to go before all public taps have aerators, sources said.
The BWSSB has said that a failure to install the aerators will lead to a fine of ₹5,000 for the first offence, with an additional 50% water supply cut to such establishments.
