WFP FFW Training Workshop – Hargeisa

18 -20 October 2010

Water Harvesting Techniques

Contents

X Overview of the water sources in the targeted area.

Y Rural water supply systems and the FFW water harvesting techniques.
Z Haffir types and characteristics.
[ Hand-dug wells characteristics.
\ The micro-catchments techniques.

Topics
X Rural water supply systems and the FFW water harvesting techniques.
Z Haffir types and characteristics.
[ Hand-dug wells characteristics.
\ The micro-catchments techniques.

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Rural water supply systems:
There are 6 types of rural water supply systems commonly used in the targeted rural areas:

1. The traditional natural water sources (water pools and depressions) (surface water).
2. Deep bore-holes with motorized pumps (water-yards). ⇒ (Ground water)
3. Open hand-dug wells. ⇒ (Ground water)
4. Slim bore-holes fitted with hand-pumps. ⇒ (Ground water).
5. Surface-water structures (Haffirs and dams) (surface water).
6. Private cisterns.

FFW Water harvesting techniques:

Water harvesting techniques that are suitable for FFW interventions are:

 Construction of all types of Haffirs.

 Construction of Hand-dug wells.
 Construction of Earth dams / dikes and canals.
 Construction of Micro-catchments for agricultural purposes.

Haffirs:
ƒ The word Haffir originated from the Arabic word “Hufra” which is a natural small depression on earth
where water accumulates during the rainy season.
ƒ The haffir is an artificial excavation into which surface-water run-off is converged during the rainy
season to be stored and used during the dry season. It is basically excavated in the impervious clay soil.
ƒ The depth of the haffir usually ranges between 3 to 8 meters while the capacity varies from 5,000 cubic
meters to 150,000 cubic meters.
ƒ Haffirs are excavated mechanically or manually, basically, in an impervious clay soil that retains water
or alternatively use of lining materials in the porous type of soil.
ƒ The main purpose of Haffir is to provide water in the dry season for domestic use or sometimes for
irrigation purposes.
ƒ Haffir technology is very simple it has proved its appropriateness in Sudan for more than 100 years.
ƒ The useful water storage (available water for use) is 50 - 70% of the Haffir design capacity.
ƒ Haffir water losses are mainly attributed to the evaporation (30 - 40%) and seepage (5 - 20%).
ƒ Haffirs and their impoundments form one of the basic sources for recharging the surrounding shallow
aquifer.
ƒ The increasing need for Haffirs implied continuous improvements and modifications to the haffir design
to maintain its sustainability and improve the water quality.

Haffir catchments area:

The Haffir catchments area is the area where the surface water run-off contributes directly
to the Haffir source.
The catchments areas are mainly classified into three categories:

¿ Stream-catchments.
¿ Jebel catchments.
¿ Self-catchments

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Stream (Wadi) catchments:
The Haffir is located near to a stream and the water is directed to the
Haffir through a feeding canal.

Stream
Spill-way
Feeding canal
The Haffir

Mountain (Jebel) –catchments:

The Haffir is situated near the Jebel (hill) and the water is directed
to the Haffir by means of wing-dikes and feeding canals.

Feeding canal Jebel

The Haffir

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Self-catchments:
The Haffir is situated in a natural depression with potential
surface-run-off and the water diverted to the Haffir by means of
dikes and canals.

Self-catchments

Feeding
canals

The Haffir

Haffir Evolution:

I R Enhanced
F
F Improved

A
H
Chute

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 Good
Haffir Evolution
Enhanced
Haffirs
Water Quality

Up grade

Lined
Haffirs
Improved
Haffirs
Up grade

Chute
H ffi
Innovate
Bad

Less Water availability and accessibility More

The basic idea behind haffir is to solve the water problem in areas where there is:

0 Unfeasible ground water due to:

/ The type of the geological formation that has no ground water (Pre-Cambrian - basement
complex).
/ The Water is unfit for human consumption (high salinity).

0 No or limited natural surface water sources (lake, ponds etc.) due to:
/ The topography of the area.
/ Unfavorable type of soil.

Chute Haffir Features & Characteristics

¼ The Haffir reservoir depth is usually between 3 ~ 5 meters with Open channel feeding.
¼ The sides of the main reservoir are of slope 1:4
¼ The Haffir settling basin is usually constructed of two layers (1 meter depth).
¼ Incomplete Haffir embankment to allow for the feeding canal.

Chute Haffirs Advantages

 Simple to design and feasible to construct by unskilled laborers.
 No cost other than the excavation cost.
 Can easily be upgraded to other advanced Haffir types

Chute Haffirs Disadvantages

The feeding canal is subject to continuous erosion.
The main reservoir is prone to high silting rate (approx. 50 cm ~ 1 meter annually)
Difficult to protect from misuse.

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 The users (humans or animals) have to directly access the Haffir reservoir to take water, which
make it prone to contamination and pollution hazards

Improved Haffir Features & Characteristics

¼ Has the inlet-well system with conduit pipes to replace the feeding canal that minimize the
sediments deposition rate and allow for the complete enclosure of the Haffir embankment.
¼ Has an outlet-well system to allow the users to collect water without direct access to the stored
water in the Haffir reservoir.
¼ Complete embankment allows for complete fencing.
¼ Has a control-valve to ensure over-ground storage and to protect the Haffir reservoir from
overflow during high floods.

Improved Haffirs Advantages

 Inlet wells and pipes increase the life span of the Haffir by reducing the silting up rate (approx. 10
cm annually). The bulk of the mud deposition is usually trapped in the settling basin where it can
easily be removed during the routine maintenance.
 The stored water is well protected by the fence from being directly accessed by users or animals.
 The over ground storage increases the Haffir capacity which balances the evaporation and
seepage losses.

Improved Haffirs Disadvantages

Provides untreated water (quality of water stored is approximately the same quality of water
served out).
Outlet well pipes are susceptible to be plugged by silt unless cleaned regularly every year.
Using traditional methods (robe and bucket) to draw off water from the outlet well risks the water
to more contamination.

Enhanced Haffir Features & Characteristics

¼ It retains all the parts of the improved Haffir type
¼ Has a floating intake hose for the outlet pipe that draw clean water to the outlet system.
¼ Has a Gravity Slow-Sand Filter system (GSSF) consists of two wells one for the filtration process
and the other for the percolated clean water.
¼ Has hand-pumps as water-lifting device to draw off water.
¼ Has a separate fence cluster for the GSSF system and hand-pumps.
¼ Has a water drain system to collect spilled water for the use in seedling nursery or any other
purpose.

Enhanced Haffirs Advantages

 Retains all the advantages of the improved system.
 Provides clean water (free of germs and pathogens).
 The floating intake hose of the outlet-pipe reduces the risk of the outlet-pipe plugging.
 The hand pumps ease the water-draw-off, minimize external contamination and renders control on
water consumption and usage.
 The drain system provides mains for utilizing water spillage in irrigation / animal watering.

Enhanced Haffirs constraints

Relative high cost compared to other Haffirs types.
The system sustainability is difficult to maintain unless:
9 Communities have adequate training on Haffir management and O&M of Haffir system.
9 the committees are supported by water revenues collection system.

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 9 and the committees are subject to regular monitoring and close follow up after the completion of
the Haffir construction.

Lined Haffir Features & Characteristics

¼ It retains all the parts of the Enhanced haffir type.
¼ The haffir reservoir is totally or partially covered with an impervious material such as
Polyethylene sheets or an artificial borrowed-clay-soil layer.
¼ Laying and fixing the Polyethylene sheets need special expertise to be carried out efficiently.
¼ Since the type of soil is no longer a barrier, except for rocky layers, the lined Haffirs avail more
chances for deeper Haffirs’ reservoirs to minimize the evaporation losses.

Lined Haffirs Advantages

 Retains all the advantages of the enhanced system.
 Avail 15~20% more water than the same haffir size of other traditional types due to the minimized
seepage losses.
 Provide the most appropriate and technically sound solution for the water shortage in the areas
where there is no ground-water and no impervious soil for traditional haffir construction.
 Polyethylene sheets are now available in good quality and with very affordable cost.

Lined Haffirs constraints

Similar to the enhanced Haffir constraints
Need more protection.

General Perspective

Haffir components Hand-pumps

Clean water-well

Filtration / Outlet-well
Fence
Embankments

Haffir-reservoir

Wing-dike Control-valve

Inlet-well
Settling-basin

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Plan:

The clean water

Haffir components
The outlet/ filter The Hand-

The outlet-pipe

The floating
Fence intake

Haffir

Haffir
The Energy-
dissipater-
well

The pressure- The

Wing-dike
The inlet- The inlet-pipes

The settling
The settling basin and feeding canal

Inlet Section:

Embankment
Fence post

Pressure well Sluice-valve

Inlet-well

Haffir
reservoir

Energy Duct-Pipe
dissipater-well 10”~14”
Dia

8
Silt trap:
The Settling basin or silt trap is an area excavated around the inlet well of the Haffir usually to the
depth of 50 cm or 100 cm in case of the chute haffir type.
All types of Haffirs are furnished with a settling basin at the intake to control sediment amounts
entering the haffir reservoir.

Settling basin / Silt

Control valve trap
Inlet
well Ground level

Inlet
pipes

Inlet well:
The Inlet well is a well constructed from stones, bricks or concrete.
The well diameter is 2 ~ 2.5 meters and the height is 50 cm above the bed of the silt trap.
The well is connected to the Haffir via pipes to serve as a water-duct to the Haffir reservoir.
The inlet pipes are normally of 10” to 14” diameter size depending on the haffir capacity

Control Valve:
The control valve Is a sluice valve usually installed in the inlet pipeline to control the amount of
water entering the haffir.
The main use is to control the over ground storage amount and to protect the haffir reservoir from
high floods

Settling basin / Silt trap

Control valve
Inlet
well
Ground level

Inlet pipes

9
Inlet pipeline
The inlet pipeline is usually constructed from Asbestos or PVC pipes of (10” ~ 14”) internal-
diameter connected together and buried below ground level.
The purpose of the inlet pipeline is to duct water from the inlet well to the pressure well and then
to the energy-dissipater well.

Embankmen
Fence

Sluice-

Inlet-
G.L

Haffir
Duct-
reservoir
pipe
Energy
dissipater-well

Embankments and wing-dikes:

The Haffir embankments / wing dikes are usually constructed in trapezoidal shapes using the
reservoir or the settling-basin excavated soil.
The main purpose of the embankments is to provide protection to the haffir reservoir and render
the over-ground storage privilege and form the basis for Haffir-fencing.
Embankments and dikes are usually about 3 meters high and should always be well-compacted

7 ~ 12 meters top width

2.5 ~ 3 meters height

Slope 1:2

15 ~ 20 meters base width

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The Berm:
The Berm is the area between the Haffir reservoir and the embankments.
The Berm width is usually 10 meters and could be reduced but not less than 5 meters.
In some occasions where haffir expansion is most likely the Berm could be extended to the
maximum width possible

Pressure well:
The pressure well is Located at the haffir Berm to reduce and absorb the hydraulic pressure caused
by the differences in elevation between the ground level and the haffir bed level.
The pressure-well used for plumbing the inlet duct as well.

Embankment
Fence post

Pressure well Sluice-valve

Inlet-well
G.L.

Haffir
Duct-
reservoir pipe
Energy
dissipater-well

Energy Dissipater well:

The pressure well is Located at the haffir Berm to reduce and absorb the hydraulic pressure caused
by the differences in elevation between the ground level and the haffir bed level .
The pressure-well used for plumbing the inlet duct as well.

Embankment
Fence post

Pressure well Sluice-valve

Inlet-well
G.L.

Haffir
Duct-
reservoir
pipe
Energy
dissipater-well

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Reservoir:
The Haffir reservoir is the excavated area where water is stored for further use. It is usually shaped
as an inverted trapezoid but it can also be any other geometrical shape.
The reservoir has inclined sides with the slope of 1:1 or 1:2 or 1:3 or 1:4 ratio. The selection of the
side-slope ratio depends on the type of the Haffir, design factors and the intended Haffir purpose.

Plan:

Plan
The clean water well

The outlet/ filter well The Hand-pumps (Not to scale)

The outlet-pipe (6”)

The floating
Fence intake
Haffirembankment

Haffir-bed
The Energy-
dissipater-
well

The pressure-well The Berm

Wing-dike

The inlet-well The inlet-pipes (10”~14”)

The settling basin

The settling basin and feeding canal

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Outlet well:
The Outlet well Is a well constructed from stones, bricks or concrete.
The well diameter is 2 ~ 2.5 meters and its depth is equal to the Haffir depth.
The well is connected to the Haffir reservoir via pipes and has a floating intake at the haffir
reservoir end.
The outlet pipes are normally 4” to 6” diameter depending on the haffir size.

Outlet Section in improved

Floating outlet
Outlet
G.L.

Haffir outlet

Gravity Slow Sand Filter (GSSF):

The concept behind the GSSF is that Haffir water can be very efficiently purified if the water is
allowed to pass through different layers of sand and gravel.
This process releases the water from silt, floating particles and 99% of germs and bacteria without
adding any chemicals.
The filtration materials are enclosed in a concrete well. The percolated water is collected in
another sealed concrete well and users draw water with hand-pumps.
The flow of water through the different parts of the filter is maintained by gravity only (no power
driven pumps).
The output of the filter depends on the surface area of it (25 cubic meters per day for the proposed
design).

Outlet Section in Enhanced Haffirs:

Clean water well fitted with
hand-pumps

Filter well
Floating outlet intake
Control valve
G L

Sand and Gravel Haffir outlet pipe

2 m

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Improved Haffirs / Enhanced Haffirs:

Clean water well fitted

with hand-pumps Outlet well
Filter well
Floating outlet intake
Control valve
G.L.

Sand and Gravel 2 m Haffir outlet pipe

Additional

Haffir Fence
The Haffir fence Is usually composed of a fence wire such as a barbed-wire or chain-link wire
fixed to concrete or angled-iron posts erected around the haffir parameter to protect the Haffir
reservoir from animals and people.
Chain-link fence wire is more protective and less harmful compared to the barbed wire.

Corner Post -
Angled iron 3” X 3”
Fence post - Angled Strainer - Angled X 3/8”
iron 2” X 2” X 1/4” iron 2” X 2” X 1/4”
5 cm

Chain-link 15
fence wire 15 0
0 c
c

5 cm
25 cm
50 cm

Plain concrete fill

40

200 cm 100 cm 200 cm

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Hand-dug-wells:
Hand dug wells are the second most important FFW water harvesting techniques intervention.
The Hand-dug-well is a wide-diameter open well that normally dug manually in areas where
ground water is feasible.
The average well diameter is 150 cm (SWC standard) and the depth normally ranges between 50
feet to 200 feet (15 m to 60 m).
Hand-dug-wells are usually lined by special curved cement bricks up to the water aquifer or rocky
layers.
The hand-dug-well head (collar) is usually raised above the ground level for 50 to 75 cm to protect
the well from the ground level contamination.
hand-dug-wells design has been subject to many improvements to make more protection and to
increase the water quality such as covering the well head by metal sheets or concrete slabs leaving
windows for users or install hand-pumps instead of traditional water lifting devices

Earth dams or dikes

•Earth dams or dikes are one of the most popular surface water harvesting techniques that used mainly for
agricultural purposes, domestic use, watering of animals or for recharging ground water shallow aquifers.
•Their construction techniques are similar to the haffir embankments.
•Earth dams require spill-ways to control the level of the stored water and allow for overflows and can be
used as outlets for downstream irrigation.
•The required earth is usually excavated from borrow-pits.
•Heavy compacting and dry pitching using stones riprap are very essential activities for earth dams
stability.
•Earth dams are capable of storing millions of cubic meters of water.

The earth dam

High reservoir
ground
or Jebel

The earth dam

spillway

The earth dam

embankment

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Micro-catchments water harvesting techniques:
•Rain water micro-catchments are earthwork structures that constructed with specific specifications to
hold the surface run-off to infiltrate and be stored in the soil as a subsurface reservoirs that can support
trees or any plants during the dry spells.
•The most popular types are the winged-shape and the crescent or curved shape.
•These micro-catchments are constructed in hard soils (Gardoud soil) by digging small barrow-pit inside
the micro-catchments and use the excavated soil to form the terraces or bunks normal to the direction of
the terrain slope.
•They are designed and constructed in a way that they hold the water during the rainfalls and freely drain
the excess water without damaging the structures.

Water micro- catchments

Direction of water

Barrow pits

Winged (L) type Crescent type

Water micro- catchments arrangements in a field

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