How One Man’s RO Hack Is Helping Bengaluru Beat the Water Crisis — One Drop at a Time
In a city where every drop counts, one resident’s simple DIY innovation is quietly saving thousands of litres of water every year — and inspiring others to do the same.
Across India’s ever-thirstier metropolises — from Mumbai’s high-rises to Chennai’s parched outskirts, from Delhi’s tanker queues to Bengaluru’s dried-up borewells — a silent emergency is unfolding.
Water, once an overlooked comfort, is now a precious, calculated necessity.
Bengaluru, a city once famous for its cool lakes and generous monsoons, now finds itself in the grip of a crisis. Borewells are collapsing into dust, tanker prices are soaring, and piped water is often a trickle of what it used to be. For many residents, the crisis has already hit home.
But while most people watch helplessly as water scarcity tightens its grip, Prabhat Vijayan, a 45-year-old tech manager from Horamavu, decided to do something about it — starting with the one thing everyone seemed to overlook: wastewater from his RO purifier.
A Wake-Up Call in Every Drop
Originally from Alleppey, Kerala — where water once flowed freely through canals and backwaters — Prabhat never imagined he’d one day have to fight for it. But moving to Bengaluru in 2014 changed that perspective fast. His apartment, like many in the city, depended on borewells for daily use and water tankers for drinking water. And each tanker came with a steep Rs 1,000 price tag.
“I suddenly found myself paying for every drop we drank,” he says. “And I couldn’t ignore how much we were wasting.”
What caught his attention most was his Reverse Osmosis (RO) purifier. For every clean litre it delivered, it rejected four times as much as wastewater. That wastewater — crystal clear but deemed ‘impure’ by the machine — flowed directly into the drain.
“Each time I filled a bottle, I saw four times the water disappearing. It just didn’t sit right with me,” he recalls.
So Prabhat did what techies do best — he dug deeper. He read, he asked questions, he consulted neighbours and green living forums. Then, he picked up a screwdriver, a plastic drum, and a little ingenuity — and built something brilliantly simple.
The Drum That Changed Everything
Here’s how Prabhat turned his waste into wisdom:
- The Drum: He purchased a 50-litre plastic drum, easily available for Rs 300–500.
- The Placement: It fit snugly into a 2 sq-ft corner of his utility area — out of the way, but within reach.
- The Hack: Using a screwdriver, he made a neat hole in the lid and threaded the RO’s waste pipe through it.
- The Magic: Now, instead of flowing into the drain, the RO’s wastewater collects neatly in the drum.
- The Use: That water? It’s used for mopping floors, flushing toilets, watering plants, washing the car, and even pre-rinsing dishes.
No plumbing. No expensive gadgets. No professional help. Just a smart workaround that saves over 24,000 litres of water every year — the equivalent of six full water tankers.
Small Act, Big Impact
Prabhat’s setup may look modest, but its impact ripples far beyond his own home.
“Water hardness here used to be around 600 ppm. Now it’s touching 800,” he says. “Our borewells are nearly dry, the water level is deeper than 1,000 feet. This isn’t a future problem — it’s happening right now.”
And he’s right. As India urbanises and climate patterns shift, water is increasingly becoming the new currency. But rather than waiting for policy changes or miraculous rains, people like Prabhat are proving that change can begin at home — and sometimes, with just a drum and a screwdriver.
Want to Try It Yourself?
Here’s what you need:
- A 50-litre plastic drum (or larger if you’ve got the space)
- A screwdriver or drill to make a hole in the lid
- The RO discharge pipe (usually accessible from the back of your unit)
And voilà — you’re ready to capture what was once wasted. Even if you don’t reuse every drop, you’ll become aware of what’s being lost — and that awareness alone can spark better habits.
Water Wisdom in the Age of Scarcity
What started as one man’s attempt to reduce waste has grown into a way of life for his family — and a model that’s quietly inspiring others in his community.
“In a way, it made me feel like I got some control back,” Prabhat says. “You don’t need fancy tech to save water — just the will to stop wasting it.”
As summer deepens and the tanker queues grow longer, stories like his remind us that the battle against water scarcity won’t be won overnight — but it can start with something small.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little less waste, a little more care — and the quiet conviction that no drop should be taken for granted.