While Chennai was struggling with acute water shortage this summer, One resident, D Suresh also called Solar Suresh had abundant water at his home. This was the result of his sincere efforts to use nature’s resources discreetly.

Around 25 years ago, Suresh, who is now 72 years old, had noticed water stagnating near his house. It had also become breeding ground for mosquitoes. That is when he decided to implement rainwater harvesting.

After its success, his next project was to harness solar energy for which he painstakingly took efforts to find the right vendor. It was finally installed in 2012 and people began calling him ‘Solar Suresh’. Not only did the solar project serve all the electricity requirements of his house, but he could also send the excess solar power to the grid and in the evenings, he could take it back from the grid. His electricity bill came down to just Rs 500 every two months.

He also began a biogas plant at his home and the slurry that originated from the plant was used as manure to grow organic vegetables in his terrace garden.

Chennai has high levels of humidity, so Mr. Suresh purchased an air to water machine which compresses the moisture in the air and converts it to cold water. The machine is produced in Mumbai through a tie-up with an American company. D Suresh now plans to make arrangements to run this machine on solar power.

The planet will definitely benefit if more people begin to follow D Suresh’s exemplary methods of sustainable living.

Image Source: Harmony Magazine