Gridless water configurations in growing cities in India and Kenya

The document examines how rapidly growing cities in India and Kenya rely on informal, decentralized water solutions—termed 'gridless water configurations'—to bridge gaps in failing or insufficient centralized infrastructure. It highlights the risks of unregulated groundwater extraction and social inequality, while proposing that water authorities formally recognize and co-design these systems with local communities to create more resilient and equitable urban water governance.

• Bangalore and Nakuru face severe water access gaps due to rapid urbanization and deteriorating infrastructure, with an estimated 45% of Bangalore's population (3.5 million people) and 50% of Nakuru's population (over 280,000 people) lacking proper water services.
• To compensate for centralized failures, residents use 'gridless water configurations,' which include technical solutions like reverse osmosis and borewells, as well as informal practices such as rainwater harvesting and water pushcarts.
• Unregulated gridless configurations, particularly the construction of community borewells, contribute to the depletion of groundwater tables and encourage urban sprawl, as concrete surfaces prevent water from percolating back into the ground.
• Informal water services often exacerbate existing social inequalities related to gender, caste, and price discrimination, particularly when landlords set unfair prices for water supplies they own.
• Current water pricing models in Bangalore are ineffective because commercial entities avoid high costs by constructing their own unregulated borewells, which reduces revenue for the water authority and increases groundwater scarcity.
• In Nakuru, there is a disconnect between national legislation and local policy; while national law mandates rainwater harvesting, the city's low-income area water action plan does not recognize rainwater harvesting or borewell registries.
• Integrating gridless configurations into formal planning can lead to circular water systems; some Bangalore communities have combined borewells, reservoirs, and sewage treatment plants to become independent of the central pipe system.

APA

Asvanon, R., Nazareth, A., & Barquet, K. (2025). Gridless water configurations in growing cities in India and Kenya. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/gridless-water-configurations-sei2025-026.pdf

Chicago

Asvanon, Raja, Anisha Nazareth, and Karina Barquet. Gridless water configurations in growing cities in India and Kenya. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2025. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/gridless-water-configurations-sei2025-026.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Asvanon |first1=Raja |last2=Nazareth |first2=Anisha |last3=Barquet |first3=Karina |title=Gridless water configurations in growing cities in India and Kenya |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=May 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/gridless-water-configurations-sei2025-026.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{asvanon2025gridless, author = {Asvanon, Raja and Nazareth, Anisha and Barquet, Karina}, title = {{Gridless water configurations in growing cities in India and Kenya}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/gridless-water-configurations-sei2025-026.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }