Rain water harvesting

What is rain water harvesting?

Capture rain water, store it and use it - it is as simple as that - Prime Minister Vajpayayee at a national seminar on Rain water harvesting, New Delhi, May 22, 2000

Collect the rain water falling on house tops, collection ponds, lakes, open areas with natural grading

Rain water is naturally pure (excepting where it becomes acid rain due to industrial pollution)
Ground water could be salty or brackish

Why rain water harvesting?

In search of water

In many parts of the world, women spend 2-3 hours a day fetching water.

India rainfall
India annual rainfall is within the top 6 countries in the world.

But we do not conserve the rain water.

INCREASE IN POPULATION
14

12

12

10

IN MILLIONS

3
1951

2002
2

In Mumbai

The amount that goes unaccounted for

About 20 to 25 per cent is lost in leakage and pilferage.

WATER HARVESTING POTENTIAL OF MUMBAI

Area 437 sq kmts

Annual avg .rainfall 2000 mm Potential - 2394.52 MLD

Present water supply = 2900 MLD

Procedure

Collecting surface water at the building gate

Rural water harvesting

Check dams along a river - Rajasthan

SUCCESS STORIES IN MUMBAI

BEST BUS DEPOT

TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Articles.
As the water shortage continues to plague the city despite heavy rains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now turned to rain water harvesting. The civic body has taken up the construction of rain harvesting plants in 43 municipal locations across the city to meet the water scarcity. At a cost of nearly Rs 30 crore, the construction of these plants will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, rain water will be collected and stored in tanks. In the second phase borewells will be dug to conserve rainwater. This will also help increase the water level in conventional wells. Municipal hospitals like Kasturba and Bhagwati already have a rainwater harvesting plant. Indian express

Sealine society, union park, khar (w)

sealine society, opted for rainwater-harvesting techniques in 2005, and since then, the society hasn't faced a water shortage. says navin chandra, a resident, "after i came to know that through rainwater harvesting we could solve our water shortage problems, we decided to go in for it. we not only invested in rainwater harvesting systems, but also installed a water-treatment plant at a cost of rs 6 lakh."currently, the society has a 10,000 litre tank and a borewell. chandra boasts, "we collect more than 6 lakh litres of water in all. when there is an utter shortage of municipal drinking water, we treat the borewell water and use it for drinking and cooking."

St Catherine's school and orphanage, Andheri

St catherine's school and orphanage has 400 inmates to take care of at any time of the day, and this includes the staff. every year, till 2003, they faced an acute shortage of water,especially from march onwards, but after they implemented rainwater harvesting techniques in the school, the water crisis is a thing of the past. The initial amount the school spent on this method was rs 85,000, and maintenance costs in the last three years have only been rs 10,000. sister sudha adds that bmc-supplied water is used only for drinking, and the water collected during the rains is used for washing and flushing toilets

Whispering palms society, kandivli (w)

However, rainwater harvesting techniques need to be implemented in the right manner, as evident from the experience of the residents of whispering palms society. Ramita Mehta, chairperson of building number 6, says, "we lost almost 70 per cent of the water in this year's monsoon since the harvesting pipes were not placed correctly. we spent around rs 1 lakh in constructing the rainwater harvesting system. but we plan to rectify the problem after the monsoon, since 70 per cent of the rain water that could have been collected is going down the drain."

Mehta says that though the society has a borewell, the rainwater that is collected is surplus and is of great help during the summer, when borewell water gets depleted. this saved water is used for washing cars and gardening.

 Waste water today - Live in a desert tomorrow

Presented by-nimit gada 21