WHY DO WE NEED RAIN WATER HARVESTING?
Water is the reason why life exists on planet Earth, without it life is unimaginable. However, freshwater sources are becoming scarce with the passage of time. Reports of several global agencies including United Nations indicate that if the current situation of water does not change and preventive measures are not taken, then the world will start to run out of fresh water by 2050. Rainwater Harvesting is a sustainable process that helps in preserving rainwater for different purposes and for future needs as well. Rainwater Harvesting is a method of collecting and storing rainwater to be used for various purposes while it can be used in future as well.
A large quantity of water is used for irrigation and there is an urgent need for proper water management in the irrigation sector. Over-irrigation through canals has led to water-logging in western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Hirakud command area. Seepage along the canals can be checked by lining them. The overdraft by tube-wells has resulted in lowering of the water table in a number of villages in Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh.
In arid areas, wherever water has been brought for irrigation, saline and alkaline tracts have emerged, rendering the soil infertile. Wasteful use of water should be checked. Sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation can play a crucial role in conserving scarce water resources in dry areas. Drip irrigation and sprinkles can save anywhere between 30 to 60 per cent of water.
Only 0.5 per cent—nearly half of this in Maharashtra—is under drip irrigation and 0.7 per cent under sprinklers. There is large-scale pollution of water as a result of industrialization and urbanization. This trend has got to be checked.
Although one-eighth of India is declared as flood-prone, there are several thousand villages in India which do not have potable drinking water. The basins should be treated as one unit for planning water utilization. Dry farming should be practiced in dry areas. The experimentation under the National Watershed Development Program for Rainfed Agriculture is being carried on since 1986-87.
There is a great demand of water in industries and the industrial sector offers great opportunities to conserve water. The economy in water-use in this sector will have two benefits. Firstly, the saved water may be used to meet the demand in other sectors. Secondly, the affluent thrown in the water bodies will be less.
Rainwater harvesting is the most effective method of water conservation. It is used to collect and store rainwater for use by humans, animals, agriculture and industries. The rainwater in this process is collected at the surface before it is lost as surface runoff. The groundwater is then recharged artificially through the process. This is the most useful method for a developing country like India, where there is a huge gap in demand and supply of fresh water while also reducing the cost of transportation and treatment of water for use.
How Can You Harvest Rainwater?
By capturing runoff rainwater from the rooftop, you can harvest rainwater at your home.
Did you know that about 60,000 gallons of water runoff from your roofs and goes into the street, streams and then in seawater? This water is being cleaned, filtered and provided to you on payment.
Why don’t you eliminate this process? You can just install a water harvesting system in your home and use this runoff rainwater.
Water Conservation Techniques:
Common Methods of Urban Rainwater Harvesting
Some of the most familiar methodologies of urban rainwater harvesting and management are –
Surface Runoff Harvesting
Surface runoff harvesting is the most suitable method in urban clusters. Here, streams of surface runoff rainwater are redirected and stored for future use in specially-built reservoirs, either on the surface or underground. This provides a steady supply of clean, potable water, and also water for normal domestic uses.
Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting
Rooftop rainwater harvesting is the most popular of all harvesting options in urban areas. The system can be installed in an individual home environment, schools, colleges, and other institutional buildings that have more available roof space.
The underlying concept of rooftop rainwater harvesting is pretty simple and easily doable. A container needs to be constructed or placed beneath the roof level, which will store the rainwater intercepted and redirected towards it through pipes made out of wood, bamboo, or PVC. Though this is the basic concept, industrial-grade rooftop rainwater harvesting in big complexes is somewhat more complex.
Recharge Pits
Another common rainwater harvesting process is constructing recharge pits to hold the rainwater. Recharge pits can be of any size and shape, depending on the intensity of rainfall in a particular area. It is important to fill these recharge pits with coarse sand, boulders, and gravels, which act as natural filters that keep away dirt and impurities usually carried by the first flow of rainwater.
Rainwater could be easily collected in plastic tanks. They are easy to install and handle. They are comparatively cheaper than underground tanks, but definitely take up space. For harvesting rainwater you first calculate the possible rain, you can do this by getting information from the Meteorological Bureau of the area. They would give information about the average rainfall over the whole month.
For instance, if the region has 600mm rainfall every year and the area of the roof is 200 square meters and the motive is to catch the whole area for one-month storage, the tank volume must be 10,000 litres. This quantity of water will give 10,000/30 about 33 litres water per day.
The harvested water can also be used as drinking water, longer-term storage, and for other purposes such as groundwater recharge and irrigation purposes.
In this context, it is pertinent to mention that AustroWaterTech is a Water and Wastewater Treatment Company headquartered in Hyderabad and expanding its operations throughout the African Countries focused on Water Conservation and Convention Solutions and joining the league of Top Global Water Management Solutions Companies. Book a free consultation for a free water test and water analysis. Rainwater Harvesting is also one of the top Water Conservation mechanisms being encouraged for applicability by Hydromo.
