Kempegowda International Airport campus becomes water positive

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR) has achieved a significant milestone on its sustainability journey by becoming 100 per cent water positive. This means that BLR Airport, replenishes more water than it consumes.

“This is a significant milestone for us at BIAL. On World Nature Conservation Day, we are proud to announce that our water stewardship has created a sustainable future for the region by achieving water positivity,” said Hari Marar, Managing Director & CEO of BIAL. “We accomplished this by consuming water responsibly, reusing, recycling and replenishing water bodies. At BIAL, our holistic sustainability efforts are not just focused on the airport, but also on the community at large. We hope our actions will inspire others in the region to follow.”

The roadmap to achieving water positivity at BLR Airport was based on surveys, research and expert opinions. This led to reduced dependency on municipal water, enabling the conservation of thousands of litres of water, achieving water positivity in 2019, with a water positivity index of 1.37, as certified by DNV GL – the world’s leading classification society. As a result of its various water sustainability initiatives, BLR Airport continues to remain water positive.

With a large number of passengers arriving and departing each day, BLR Airport requires millions of litres of water for the maintenance of infrastructure and operations. Instead of relying on municipal water supply to meet the daily water requirement, BIAL initiated a series of initiatives aimed at improving water resources by way of ground recharge, lake recharge and an integrated management of liquid and solid waste, therefore avoiding the contamination of ground water.

A 2.5 million litres per day (MLD)- capacity sewage treatment plant (STP) was developed to recycle water, which is now used for landscape irrigation, ventilation and air conditioning and firefighting requirements. BIAL has deployed multiple types of equipment to improve water usage efficiency across the facility.

With an aim to avoid water wastage within our campus, drains were built to direct excess water flow to Bettakote Lake, a sprawling water body adjacent to the airport. 

Access to safe drinking water had become a challenge for the community around the airport. BIAL installed rooftop rainwater harvesting units in five villages to provide safe drinking water for the community, benefiting more than 300 families. This will enable access to safe drinking water and improve the water table in the region. 

Road to Water Positivity 

• BLR Airport becomes Water Positive since 2019. Water Positive Index: 1.37
• Water Positive Index = (Water Replenished / Water Consumed)
• This effectively means the airport has replenished more water than it has consumed.

• Rainwater Recharge: Developed 315 rainwater recharge pits in the campus to collect and harness rainwater.
• Rainwater Harvesting: rainwater on the roof is collected and stored in rainwater harvesting sumps. This is reused further for irrigation and HVAC supply.
• Advanced drip irrigation: deployed advanced drip irrigation system to reduce water usage for landscape.
• Building large rainwater harvesting structures to use only harvested water and reduce dependency on BWSSB supply.

Community initiatives

• Installed roof top rainwater harvesting systems in five villages to provide safe drinking water for the community, impacting more than 300 families.
• In collaboration with IISC, water sustainability study is carried out in and around the Airport, including catchment areas of the surrounding lakes

Energy Neutral

Reaffirming its position as a flag bearer for sustainable operations, BLR Airport has achieved net energy neutral status in the financial year 2020-21. As an outcome of energy conservation, BLR Airport has been able to save nearly 22 lakh units of energy in the FY 2020-21, enough to power nearly 9,000 houses for a month.