Subject Environment Management

Topic Rainwater Harvesting

Submitted To Shushma Patil

Submitted By Manish Singh Roll No- 9154

WHAT IS WATER HARVESTING? It means capturing rain where it falls or capturing the run off in your own village or town. And taking measures to keep that water clean by not allowing polluting activities to take place in the catchment.

Therefore, water harvesting can be undertaken through a variety of ways

Capturing runoff from rooftops Capturing runoff from local catchments Capturing seasonal floodwaters from local streams Conserving water through watershed management

These techniques can serve the following the following purposes:

Provide drinking water Provide irrigation water Increase groundwater recharge Reduce stormwater discharges, urban floods and overloading of sewage treatment plants Reduce seawater ingress in coastal areas.

In general, water harvesting is the activity of direct collection of rainwater. The rainwater collected can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the groundwater. Rain is the first form of water that we know in the hydrological cycle, hence is a primary source of water for us. Rivers, lakes and groundwater are all secondary sources of water. In present times, we depend entirely on such secondary sources of water. In the process, it is forgotten that rain is the ultimate source that feeds all these secondary sources and remain ignorant of its value. Water harvesting means to understand the value of rain, and to make optimum use of the rainwater at the place where it falls

Rainwater harvesting is the accumulating and storing, of rainwater for reuse, before it reaches the aquifer. It has been used to provide drinking water, water for livestock, water for irrigation, as well as other typical uses given to water. Rainwater collected from the roofs of houses, tents and local institutions, can make an important contribution to the availability of drinking water. Water collected from the ground, sometimes from areas which are especially prepared for this purpose, is called Stormwater harvesting. In some cases, rainwater may be the only available, or economical, water source. Rainwater harvesting systems can be simple to construct from inexpensive local materials, and are potentially successful in most habitable locations. Roof rainwater can be of good quality and may not require treatment before consumption. Although some rooftop materials may produce rainwater that is harmful to human health, it can be useful in flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden and washing cars; these uses alone halve the amount of water used by a typical home. Household rainfall catchment systems are appropriate in areas with an average rainfall greater than 200 mm (7.9 in) per year, and no other accessible water sources (Skinner and Cotton, 1992). Overflow from rainwater harvesting tank systems can be used to refill aquifers in a process called groundwater recharge, though this is a related process, it must not be confused with Rainwater harvesting. There are a number of types of systems to harvest rainwater ranging from very simple to the complex industrial systems. The rate at which water can be collected from either system is dependent on the plan area of the system, its efficiency, and the intensity of rainfall (i.e. annual precipitation (mm per annum) x square meter of catchment area = litres per annum yield) ... a 200 square meter roof catchment catching 1,000mm PA yields 200 kLPA.

Basic configuration

Rainwater harvesting systems channel rainwater that falls on to a roof into storage via a system of gutters and pipes. The first flush of rainwater after a dry season should be allowed to run to waste as it will be contaminated with dust, bird droppings etc. Roof gutters should have sufficient incline to avoid standing water. They must be strong enough, and large enough to carry peak flows. Storage tanks should be covered to prevent mosquito breeding and to reduce evaporation losses, contamination and algal growth. Rainwater harvesting systems require regular maintenance and cleaning to keep the system hygienic.

Subsurface dyke
A subsurface dyke is built in an aquifer to obstruct the natural flow of groundwater, thereby raising the groundwater level and increasing the amount of water stored in the aquifer.The subsurface dyke at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kannur under Kerala Agricultural University with the support of ICAR, has become an effective method for ground water conservation by means of rain water harvesting technologies. The sub-surface dyke has demonstrated that it is a feasible method for conserving and exploiting the groundwater resources of the Kerala state ofIndia. The dyke is now the largest rainwater harvesting system in that region.

Groundwater recharge
Rainwater may also be used for groundwater recharge, where the runoff on the ground is collected and allowed to be absorbed, adding to the groundwater. In the US, rooftop rainwater is collected and stored in sump.

Advantages in urban areas Rainwater harvesting can (a) assure an independent water supply during water restrictions, that is though somewhat dependent on end use and maintenance, (b)usually of acceptable quality for household needs and (c) renewable at acceptable volumes despite forecast climate change (CSIRO, 2003). It produces beneficial externalities by reducing peak storm water runoff and processing costs. In municipalities with combined sewer systems, reducing storm runoff is especially important, because excess runoff during heavy storms leads to the discharge of raw sewage from outfalls when treatment plant capacity cannot handle the combined flow. (d)RH systems are simple to install and operate. Running costs are negligible, and they provide water at the point of consumption. We are consuming this water for our basic needs.

Rain water harvesting law.Who Owns the Rain? Check water rights and water right law very well before buying land in USA. Some states have water law in favor of land owners, and some states own all water rights, leaving you only water rights they are willing to grant through permits. In Colorado you may not catch, collect or harvest rain water from your roof unless you first buy a permit. Depending on where you live, and if the government owns your rain water rights.

Quality
As rainwater may be contaminated due to pollutants like microscopic germs etc., it is often not considered suitable for drinking without treatment. However, there are many examples of rainwater being used for all purposes including drinking following suitable treatment.

Rainwater harvested from roofs can contain human, animal and bird feces, mosses and lichens, windblown dust, particulates from urban pollution, pesticides, and inorganic ions from the sea (Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, SO4), and dissolved gases (CO2, NOx, SOx). High levels of pesticide have been found in rainwater in Europe with the highest concentrations occurring in the first rain immediately after a dry spell;the concentration of these and other contaminants are reduced significantly by diverting the initial flow of water to waste as described above. The water may need to be analysed properly, and used in a way appropriate to its safety. In the Gansu province for example, harvested rainwater is boiled in parabolic solar cookers before being used for drinking. In Brazil alum and chlorine is added to disinfect water before consumption. So-called "appropriate technology" methods, such as solar water disinfection, provide lowcost disinfection options for treatment of stored rainwater for drinking.

Rainwater Harvesting in India

In India, rainwater harvesting is an ancient tradition. From as far back as 4500 BC, the simplest of earthworks in Thar Desert and Rajasthan, would harvest water from the falling rain. These simplest forms of rainwater harvesting would evolve in accordance to the eco-regions within Indias borders. Using rivers, floods, monsoon, underground rivers, surface water and the earth itself, the ancient cast of pallar (water managers) have been respected for thousands of years. Rainwater harvesting in India is more than an age old tradition that varies from region to region, rainwater harvesting is an integral part of Indian identity and cultural history, that without, India would never have been.

Vedic culture did not create rainwater harvesting as it was already being done (although rudimentary still quite effective) in the Thar and Rajasthan deserts long before the Harappan civilization in 2600 BC. Monsoon has a way of dictating how life in any given region will profit from determined amounts of rainfall. Once construction techniques began to improve, more elaborate structures could be undertaken to access water management issues in creative and innovative ways. Not only household water needs, but also farm and irrigation in even the most remote places such as the Thar Desert. To this very day, wells known as kuis or beris that collect fallen rainwater and prevent evaporation still exist, were first built by caravan travelers that had determined routes through the desert.

More developed wells called kundis or kunds are still used for drinking water, while bundela and chandela tanks with steps leading down into them were surrounded by pavilions, gardens, orchards to glorify the king. The type of rainwater harvesting techniques used in India, vary in accordance to the region. In northern India the Himalayan regions use glacier water and artificial glaciers to have water year round. The western Himalayan region which gives life to the Ganga also uses similar ditch technologies to replenish the underground flow of water and produce massive agriculture in an otherwise desolate area. The Thar Desert is an exceptional example of ingenuity and sustainability in low-tech communities. But ingenuity and creativity are what mark most about any region in India, as the solutions have time and time again come from the climatic and

geographical conditions in which peoples had found themselves and still find themselves to this very day.

Whether they are harvesting rain from their rooftops, or courtyards, open community lands from artificial wells, monsoon run-off from the water of swollen streams or stored in various bodies or even harvest water from flooded rivers. Rainwater harvesting managers, called pallar are an officially recognized cast in India that deserves respect and honor. Usually pallar inherit their skills, and perform their service usually in accordance to region. The pallar are not trained in great universities from around the world, much less any inside of India, the pallar learn their abilities from one generation to the next and the most important part of engineering itself, experience. Years of careful observation on a day to day basis, when water needs effect everyday life, and even survival, their creative minds invent solutions that bridge the frontier of time and technology. Ingenuity and creativity in such largely diverse scales are responsible for the plethora of innovative ideas that come from this humble Indian cast.

Prehistoric India brought rainwater harvesting solutions as modern day India also does. These solutions which are diverse and innovative bring new insight into the world of rainwater harvest the world over. Insights that should be studied, and understood, not merely as a science but as cultural identity and a way of thinking thats roots can be traced to antiquity. As India has so many different regions, it also confronts many different solutions for such a basic and essential human need as a single drop of water. Flood water, post-monsoon drought, underground river collectors, surface water aqueducts, and even evaporation proof community wells for drinking as well as irrigation and other methods of rainwater harvesting; the ancient art of Indian pallar is a tradition that should be respected and understood by anyone interested in better and more ecological ways to use the sky-gift of natural rain.