Support Water Security

VOSD SANCTUARY & HOSPITAL

The VOSD SANCTUARY™ is the World’s Largest No-Kill Dog Sanctuary with a World-Class Residential Hospital that has helped 8000+ critically injured and abandoned dogs. VOSD has also administered over 250,000 treatments and has 900+ permanent resident dogs that live here for life.

Did you know we fly / drive / bring by train 200 rescued dogs from 30+ cities across India each year and a similar number from Bangalore. VOSD only takes dogs nobody else will take when they’re beaten, broken, mutilated, old or aggressive. If a dog has no home in India they have one at VOSD. And they have the best care in the world.

They come home to one of the first no-kill Dog Sanctuary in India, arguably the largest in the world but definitely the finest. We’ve our own fully equipped 10,000+ sq feet hospital, surgeries and recovery area. 3 large ambulances and a pickup dedicated for the dog’s needs. There’s 50+ individual 100-200 sq ft kennels, underground drainage, underground irrigation and underground electrical wiring over many acres. 3 swimming pools, a jet powered hydrotherapy pool and an (under construction) agility park for dogs.

about vosd

WATER FOR EVERYONE

Thanks to your support and donations, we have been able to build a solid water harvesting system that can take up to 17 lakhs of water! We have expanded to 1.5 lakhs of underground water storage. Our drainage systems are now working full time and we are able to harvest enough water for 6 months, during the latter half of the year. 

850+ DOGS NOW HAVE WATER SECURITY 

Thank you for your support- you have ensured the survival of our dogs and our people in this time of great need. In late February 2020, the VOSD Sanctuary & Hospital ran out of water leaving 850+ dogs, cows, and horses in a very perilous situation. While we were getting by, buying water daily with water tankers, India went into lockdown and this greatly precipitated our situation. Our supply lines were severed. Water comes from 22 km away; food and medicine comes from 75-90 km away in Bangalore. All of you responded to our appeal, with overwhelming enthusiasm for which we are SO grateful. Much needs to be done to ensure water security for the foreseeable future.

When we took possession of this land where the VOSD Sanctuary & Hospital stands, it was a Eucalyptus plantation. This was uprooted and it gave us absolutely dry barren land that took over 2 years for anything to grow. The dogs, cows, and horses supplied a lot of the organic manure that allowed these trees to take root. We now have 500 adult trees covering the area which did not have a blade of grass. Another 100+ saplings are in the ground since last monsoon fighting for life in the heat.

No life survives without water and we used to buy water then too but when we drilled luckily we struck water. The water table in these bore wells in the last 6 years has receded 200-300 feet. In this time:

  • We extensively contoured the entire area so we can channel and collect all the rain runoff.
  • We created recharge and storage ponds that store 100,000 cubic feet of water and we built grey-water recycling.

WHAT YOUR HELP SO FAR HAS ALLOWED US TO ACHIEVE

The pandemic continues, but your overwhelming monetary support has allowed us to ensure the following immediate measures:

  1. Continuous water supply: You have ensured that water tankers will continue to deliver to us and our dogs will have water till we hit the monsoons.
  2. Continued food supply: With the quantities of food we buy ~10 tons a month the severed supply chains caused prices to rise to 3-5 times are usual negotiated prices. You have ensured we are able to afford this.
  3. Completion of the 1.5 lakh litre underground water storage: This was 10 days away from being completed when we ran out of water and construction material. We hope to complete this soon when the lockdown ends. This will goes a long way in ensuring up to 1 month of supply with rationing.
  4. New motors and pumps: Cameras showed there was water below and we went a total of 200 feet to reach it and installed much larger 30 KVA pumps and motors. It was our hope that the volume of water would be sufficient for us. However we have only at 1000 LPD as against the present requirements of 15,000 LPD.

Not finding sufficient water underground changes our future significantly.

ORIGIN OF THE VOSD WATER CRISIS


VOSD IS IN THE DRIEST PART OF INDIA
● Karnataka as a whole is the second driest state in India after Rajasthan!
● This is skewed by the fact that the Western Ghats in Karnataka are one of the wettest regions in India- it stands to reason that the rest of the state- north from Bangalore and east of the Western Ghats is drier than Rajasthan.
● We are in this region 75 km north (for reasons of proximity to the vet infrastructure of Bangalore).
● Water scarcity is compounded by the fact that we are in a very hilly region made of granite rock. 

THE CRISIS WAS BUILDING 
● Last year the monsoon failed and we ran dry and had to buy water for a few months. We received concentrated rainfall in September and October after the monsoon season. Clearly it was not enough to recharge our surface and underground water. This year we ran dry a month earlier than last year.
● Water usage has increased as the number of dogs has increased and with the ongoing construction of the VOSD- City of Dogs.
● Submersible pumps need 440v 3 Phase power supply to run. 3 phase power is supplied for 1 hour a day in the night, but in the dry season at about 200-250v. It is inadequate to pump water most nights.

 

WATER USage at VOSD

VOSD underwent a water emergency. Luckily the monsoon arrived and the the rains recharged tanks above and below ground. 

 

VOSD’S WATER REQUIREMENT

● Water for cooking for 850+ dogs (2000 Liters Per Day, LPD)
● Drinking water for dogs, cows and horses (2000 LPD)
● Drinking water for 20 staff (1000 LPD)
● Water for cleaning over 60,000 sq feet of build up area for dogs including the hospital, 50+ kennels, 50+ enclosures (5000 LPD)
● Water for construction + plants (5000 LPD) Per day water use: 15,000 LPD

Per day water use: 15,000 LPD

OLD INFRASTRUCTURE

● 5bhp (3-phase) *4 submersibles for ground water
● 1bhp*3 pumps for pumping above ground
● 2bhp*1 submersible for drawing well/pool water
● 10,000+ ft of 1/2/4” underground pipe network
● 20000+ liters of PVC tank storage above ground
● 10000 liters of storage underground
● 30kva transformer for 3 phase power
● 7.5kva (1-phase) generator for pumping surface water during power outages 

WATER EMERGENCY AT VOSD SANCTUARY

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US OVERCOME THE WATER CRISIS
We are restricted to using the water that is available in our land. There are no water pipelines or government water supply. 

WELL IS DRY
Supplies water for all needs including the current RO system.

GROUND WATER
Bore wells at a depth of >1000ft ran dry on 1st March 2020.

SMALL RECHARGE POND WAS DRY

100% rainwater in our land is collected and stored in 2 man-made ponds with a capacity of 100,000+ cubic feet. This water is used where potable water is not required throughout the year. 

LARGE RECHARGE POND WAS DRY

100% rainwater in our land is collected and stored in 2 man-made ponds with a capacity of 100,000+ cubic feet. This water is used where potable water is not required throughout the year. 

THE WATER SECURITY CAMPAIGN UPDATEs

May 2020:

HOW OUR WATER FUTURE HAS CHANGED

Not having access to a large volume of underground water as we had hoped, and with no real hope of finding more water (since there are more than 10 wells within 100 feet of our boundary and all are dry), we have to live with the future that in the best case we will have 6 months (from June to November) when the water table will be enough for us to pump water. The other 6 months we have to make do with stored water.

THE PLAN FOR ENSURING WATER SECURITY FOR VOSD

Given this uncertain future, these are the following steps that are being taken:

  • Underground storage #1: The 150,000 litre tank nearing completion was to be used to store the underground water we pump out. Now it will be used to store filtered rainwater exclusively. This is budgeted for Rs 14 lacs.
  • Underground storage #2: We already have a deep recharge pond that will now be converted to a covered underground concrete water storage of 500,000 liter. This will also be filled with filtered rainwater. This was earlier budgeted for Rs 25 lakhs.
  • Rainwater collection & filtration system: An extensive rainwater collection and filtration system will be installed across the existing large roofs > 10,000 sq feet including of the hospital, 4 residences, single large kennel areas All this will use a system of gutters and filters and pumps to bring water to these tanks. This is budgeted for Rs 2-3 lakhs.
  • Recharge wells for the bore wells: The smaller roofs of kennels and enclosures will also use gutters to drain into 5-6 recharge wells for the bore well that will be 15-25’ feet deep. This is budgeted for Rs 2-3 lakhs
  • Redesign of the main rainwater runoff pond: The main runoff collection pond holds 75,000 cubic feet of water when full. However, for 3 years now this has not been filling up. Besides, as the consultants who have visited told us this have pointed out- this pond is on the Eastern extremity of the farm. Water above and below ground where we are flows West to East – so it does little for our bore wells. Most of the water evaporates so the last 1 foot can’t be used because of the silt. We plan to use only half of the pond, fill the other half, but make it 10’ deeper and line the walls and sides and cover it. This will not be solid concrete but will ensure that water is not lost to seepage and evaporation. This water will then be filtered and pumped back to Underground Storage No #2 and #1. Together with the Underground Storage #2 this will give us 15 lac liters of storage and will cost only Rs 20,00,000 as against the earlier budget of costing Rs 25 lakhs for only 5 lakh litres.
  • Upgrade of the STP: Upgrading the STP from the basic system will allow us to clean water to a point that it can be used by a commercial RO system (to be installed). This will cost approx Rs 200,000.
  • Install Commercial grade RO plant: A commercial RO plant of 500 LPH capacity will produce 5000 liters of drinking water each day from our Underground Storage #1 and #2. This is budgeted at Rs 200,000 including installation.