The Can Chronicles: A Water Saga

The year was 2023. The month of May was spent taking end semester exams. For the ones who procrastinated (like me), the days after the exams were also spent in transporting our belongings to the H-Hostel. I will forever be grateful for the bus which went back and forth every hour (R.I.P Bus service). Meanwhile, vacations started (mid-May) and ended (end of July). Finally, August began, and so did our semester.

On the fifth of the month, we were greeted by the following line in an email from the hostel secretary, 

“Coming to the issue of drinking water in the main campus buildings (Hostels Des and Malhar, DB1, DB2, and Admin block) -  PLEASE DO NOT drink water from the water fountains”. 

Safe to say, the students were not thrilled. Combined with the lack of steady Wi-Fi and some issues with the toilet facilities, this was not a good time for the hostel inhabitants.

A solution was provided though: Water canisters. A slew of cans was fitted on trucks from the south campus to grace their new location. The aforementioned email had clarified that these cans were cleaned with chlorine and were filled from the south campus water filters. Credit where it is due; the water was indeed drinkable. There were some complaints of taste, but that alone couldn’t be used as a basis for questioning its purity.

But time wasn’t fair to this seemingly working measure. People noticed that even if the water was considered fine, it was being kept in dispensers, which were kept open to dust when not in use. Some of the cans were also used after such a long time that the foul taste implied possible contamination from the container itself. The occasional worm was also observed and was recorded on camera. All in all, though everyone was still using the water cans (going to the south campus just to get water seemed overkill), they were not exactly happy with it.

In an email on the seventh of August from the Assistant Registrar, combing through the trailing mails revealed the cause of the issue itself. According to the Dean of Planning and Infrastructure, one issue was that there was a delay in getting the “Telugu Ganga Canal water”. Further along the trailing mails, it was informed that the turbidity of pond water was higher than what the water treatment plant was designed in consideration of. Reading these two factors, at the very least, helped us understand the depth of the issue and be informed of the same.

Nevertheless, the quality of canned water was again brought to the attention in an email on the sixth of September from the Students’ General Secretary (SGS). The email was addressed to the students more so than authorities and was a summary of what was discussed in the Board of Secretaries meeting. One of the possible solutions mentioned was to install the same filtration system that was used in the mess. In a sheer case of irony, an email from the Chair of the Council of Wardens (CCW) on the ninth of September (barely three days) stated to not drink from the water coolers in the mess.

Throughout the whole ordeal, there were some student emails directly appealing to all. Though there was never a direct reply, general updates were given to keep the residents happy. One such email was on the twenty-third of September from the Dean of Student Affairs, where two points were highlighted: The water supply for the cans being gradually shifted to the new RO plant of the chiller unit close to the Engineering Unit (EU) and the installation of dedicated water treatment plants on each of the north campus hostels (within 3-4 weeks maximum).

The following month was filled with radio silence. Patience seemed to be the prime virtue for the sanity of mind. The students had already waited this long, so surely, an extra month was a small price to pay for salvation. Meanwhile, the running joke was that all of this was an attempt to implement an unorthodox water conservation programme, with us being the only highly trained candidates who could give the world its proof of concept. Thankfully for our sake, the holy trifecta of “No Electricity, No Water, No Wi-Fi” was never unleashed (at least, not at the same time).

All of this may sound a bit gloomy. That’s because it was. During such times, individuals preferred to take a nice refreshing shower and then stop midway because they realised they couldn’t bear the smell. Then they would use the Haier app to put clothes in the forty-minute cycle and bear witness to the non-transparent supply of water being used for the wash. But not everything disappointed them with a lack of clean water: the water-based curd was always there for them.

Finally, an email came on the seventh of November, bringing attention to the water issue once again because of obvious reasons. The SGS mentioned the two pressing issues of water and Wi-Fi again, highlighting the urgency of the latter with respect to the end-semester exams and placement exams for final-year students. In the trailing mail, the CCW assured us that the mess coolers would be connected to a separate treatment unit along with a UV disinfection system and urged the EU to conduct water quality tests for the cooler. As for the water treatment plants, it was mentioned that it was simply taking more time than anticipated.

Throughout this whole process, we were able to see some tangible work. Sometimes, there were repairs related to the water fountains. Other times, there were announcements of suspended water supply for not-so-brief amounts of time (plumbing work). Among all of this, the Assistant Warden maintained a quite steady relay of information from us to the relevant authorities. Positivity had not abandoned the hostel. We could see that the students had matured. Prioritisation had been adopted as an essential skill. Issues such as “No hot water for bathing” didn’t affect people anymore (at least not as much as before). We were beyond such trivial matters.

As December dropped, things went on as usual. In due course of time, nature also practised its comedy chops on us by sabotaging the roads with its mighty downpour (irony strikes again). As the semester ended, many of us went back home, leaving a few brave individuals still living in the block. As a reward for their tenacity, the walls, the electricity and the Wi-Fi started giving up to water logging: The former issue being decently bearable and the latter issue adding salt to the injury. Meanwhile, a curious student had the idea to look under the lid of the mess cooler. After seeing the colour of the water, the student was curious no more. Under these circumstances, a new euphemism was required to describe the sight which befell these students. A unanimous majority vote was given to “Copper-infused water”.

As for the sizable chunk of students who left for Inter-IIT, the new environment provided some temporary respite from the daily inconveniences of the hostels, as December drew to a close, the students started returning to the college. The new year brought in a new semester, and whether it was going to be happy was soon to be seen.

The beginning few days did not look good. Things were exactly the same as before. But everything changed when the CCW replied. On the sixth of January, an email was sent from the CCW, declaring the water fountains of both Malhar and Des hostel as usable for drinking water. This was great news. There was just one issue: The water fountains were not working.

Following this incident was the most surreal email exchange ever of this whole crisis: The Assistant Registrar sent an appreciation email for the housekeeping staff who would no longer have to manage the daily upkeep of transporting almost 106 water cans as the students were frantically verifying the non-working condition of the water fountains in real-time. Thankfully, the CCW made an immediate personal visit, following which almost all of the water fountains were quickly fixed.

What transpired henceforth, could be described as a decaying sine wave followed by a sudden bump to the flattening line. Why a sine wave? That’s because the issues came and went. Why decaying? That’s because the water fountains were finally working and the issues were more or less decreasing in intensity with time.

What about the sudden bump? Well, that was delivered by an email on the thirteenth of March, sent from the CCW. The key points were as follows: Persistent water shortage in hostels; Consumption of water determined by EU to be 120 litres per person per day; Flow rate of shower calculated to be 9 litres per minute; Shower determined to be the “likely cause for the increased water consumption”; Decision to remove shower heads from 3 out of 4 bathroom stalls.

Needless to say, the claims were met with scepticism. The validity of the assumption that engineers take daily baths is left to the readers. Besides, numerous other factors, such as overflowing overhead tanks, leaking flush tanks, leaking taps, et cetera, were forwarded by the students as the more plausible culprits (which were addressed by the CCW in the trailing mails).

And this is where the issue stands today. Approximately one and a half months are still left for some development to happen, so keep your fingers crossed. If we step back and look at the current situation, the net outcome could be interpreted as a delicately positioned positive. Without the showerhead issue, it would have been a clear positive, but I digress.

This has been a roller coaster ride from start to finish. Hope the matter gets “cleared” soon (Drinking water is also clear water, get it?). Just like the water fountains, my humour has broken too. Well, I’ll be going then. Best of luck for your end semesters. (If you are in your fourth year, then all the best for your future endeavours, too.) We’ll see what the next academic year has in store for us (the author has always used the shower and is currently en route to buy a mug from the canteen store).