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Three Years of Designing Water Resilience

The Urban Water Programme was designed to tackle the issues of water security and resilience in urban areas. As WELL Labs turns 3, we look back at the journey and impact this programme has had on Bengaluru’s water story.

by ,

Apr 21, 2026

Building water security is not merely a technical puzzle; it is about understanding and reweaving the social and institutional fabrics on which it is built | Illustration by Sarayu Neelkanthan

Three years ago, the Urban Water programme at WELL Labs set out to answer one question: How can we build water-secure and water-resilient cities?

These three years have taught us that building water security is not merely a technical puzzle; it is about understanding and reweaving the social and institutional fabrics on which it is built. We’ve learned that data is only as powerful as the trust behind it, and that true innovation doesn’t happen in a lab. It happens in the messy, vibrant intersections of policy and regulations, community, innovation, and the environment. Most importantly, we’ve understood that for a city to be truly resilient, the ‘ecosystem’ must be inclusive, encompassing everyone, from the apartment resident to the state official.

We’ve approached our Urban Water programme like a design lab. First, we understand the system. Then, we imagine what it can become. Finally, we build what works.

Year 1 – What Is

Before you fix a system, you must understand it.

We identified two primary gaps in the water system. First, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding about how water flows in Bengaluru. And second, a data-driven case for diversifying water sources is missing. Specifically, we needed to determine the ideal mix of resources to improve the city’s water resilience; for example, the proportions of demand that can be met by rainwater harvesting versus treated used water. To fill these gaps, we published the Bengaluru Urban Water Balance Report, the first comprehensive account of how water moves through the city. This became the definitive database for decision-makers.

The same year, we launched the WaterReuseLab with Eawag. We recognised that Bengaluru’s 4,000+ decentralised STPs could help offset a significant portion of groundwater usage. But by how much? Where? What blockers were inhibiting that potential from being realised? These questions remained unanswered. Unlocking these would offer insights into how the full potential of these systems could be achieved and whether they could potentially serve as a global model for megacities building security from the ground up.

WELL Labs Executive Director, Dr Veena Srinivasan, leads a panel discussion on planning and implementing effective water management in cities at a multi-stakeholder conference organised by WELL Labs, EAWAG and BAF at the Infosys Science Foundation in Bengaluru on October 17.
Bengaluru’s 4,000+ decentralised STPs can help offset a significant portion of groundwater usage

Year 2 – What If

Once you understand the system, you can reshape it.

As we moved from research to reality, we realised that none of this would be possible without the immense support and collective insights of our ecosystem partners. The conversations we had with every one of them shaped our core understanding: the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation, Biome Environmental Trust, CDD, and LVBL; innovators like FluxGen, Boson White Water, Greentivity Enviro Solutions, Genex Utility, Ecotech Engineering, and Tankerwala; officials from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), and Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute (EMPRI); builders and developers like Brigade Group, Lodha Group, CoEvolve Estates, JLL, and CREDAI; experts from IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, and IISc; and so many more.

To us, this is our most valuable asset and our true measure of success: the collective intelligence of a community moving the needle on treated used water reuse in Bengaluru. We forged a partnership with Eawag to strengthen this ecosystem and gather more data together to drive impact on the ground. Here are some of our achievements in Year 2:

Policy Change: Our partnership with Eawag and the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation influenced state-level policy on water reuse, recognising the off-site reuse from apartment STPs as crucial to boosting treated used water reuse in the city.

Adopted Frameworks: We developed the first draft of a lake rejuvenation framework along with Friends of Lakes, which now has more than 30 institutional partners and countless individual contributors who have actively shaped it, making it much more robust than any one single institution could have. As a result, the framework has been adopted by the Bengaluru Climate Action Cell.

Market Reality: We partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to map how decentralised sanitation technology can move from ‘possibility’ to ‘market reality’.

WELL Labs Executive Director, Dr Veena Srinivasan, leads a panel discussion on planning and implementing effective water management in cities at a multi-stakeholder conference organised by WELL Labs, EAWAG and BAF at the Infosys Science Foundation in Bengaluru on October 17.
The lakes framework has been adopted by the Bengaluru Climate Action Cell | Illustration by Anam Husain

Year 3 – What Works

Once you’ve reimagined the system, you build.

This year was about institutionalising change.

Systemic Intervention: We signed MoUs with Karnataka State Disaster Management Centre (KSDMC), Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), and BWSSB to shape how major disaster mitigation investments are implemented from within.

We’ve also anchored discussions around building a coalition for water reuse in the city.

Implementing Nature-based Solutions: Together with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), we co-developed actionable pathways for expanding Nature-based Solutions across city scales. We are now piloting solutions across the city to demonstrate how they can be designed and how the city can reap tangible benefits.

Digital Tools: Together with Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India Private Limited (MBRDI), we’re building Solutions Explorer, a platform that can help funders and cities pick the right Nature-based interventions.

Year 4 – What Next

As we step into our fourth year, we are broadening our lens. A core part of our ethos at WELL Labs is transforming the way resilience is built; moving away from reactive fixes toward systemic transformation at scale. This is a massive challenge that requires deep institutional integration. Through our valuable engagements and MoUs with KSNDMC, GBA, and BWSSB, and by building coalitions with partners in the system, we hope to achieve this fundamental shift in how the city manages its water during extremes.

An illustration of a sewage treatment plant connected to an urban lake.
We are now piloting nature-based solutions across the city | Illustration by Anam Husain

A New Phase of Leadership

The gap between starting up and scaling is a new design problem. As we enter Year 4, the programme is evolving alongside its leadership.

Shreya Nath, who drove the Urban Water programme from its inception through its foundational ‘0 to 3’ growth, has transitioned out as she has moved to the US. Gayathri Muraleedharan, who has been a core pillar of the team since Year 2, took on the role of co-lead last September and is now leading the programme into its next chapter of implementation.

The question that started this programme is bigger than any three-year arc. But the foundations are in place.

We’re grateful to be working in an organisation where this kind of work is not only possible but expected.

Happy 3rd birthday, WELL Labs!

Acknowledgements

Authored by Shreya Nath and Gayathri Muraleedharan

Edited by Apuurva Sridharan

Published by Nanditha Gogate

 

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