Rain Water Harvesting: A Beginner's Approach

As for a country like India where urbanizing is happening very quickly and so as the need for water. Earlier it was perfectly okay for the cities to arrange water for its denizens from many water bodies. But with increasing demand of water they are stretched to their limits to arrange it. As for a city like Mumbai which receives a plenty of water during the monsoon in the form of rain, can definitely provide a solution to its ever increasing population.

Rain water harvesting is not a very new concept. According to Wikipedia this concepts were known to humans before third century BC. Some part of Pakistan, Iran and India were using those techniques. Even we at our childhood days may have enjoyed collecting rain water and using it to many purposes. With scientific advancements and and more complicated gadgets we tend to forget those simple techniques which are much more aligned with the nature. With this blog I want to enlighten some of those concepts with though are very simple to follow, we seemed to have neglected for quite some time.
The technological solution for rain water harvesting is not that complicated as the the name may suggest. There are basically three parts which you need to know.
Rain catching area
The collection device
The Piping system

Rain catching area:
Rooftop catching: Though this area receives the majority of the rain the amount and the quality of the water varies greatly with the material type used for roofing. In case the rooftop is of galvanized corrugated iron, aluminum or asbestos like material the quality of water is reasonably good. However the painted or coated rooftop can add colors and other chemical impurities to the collected water. It is almost mandatory to clean the rooftops to keep it free from bird droppings, dust and leaves. You can collect the water at the edge of the roof by putting vessels there or you can use pipes to bring the collected water to the vessel at you convenient place.
Using a rain saucer can greatly reduce the contamination. It catches the rain direct from the sky. It is a reverse umbrella like shape.

The collection device:
These can be cylindrical jars or tanks. You can prepare your collection device above or below the ground but make sure these tanks are free from human, animal or any other environmental contamination. Put a tight lid to protect the water from mosquito breeding and algal growth. Select the size of container by keeping in mind of your using needs.

The piping system:
This system includes all the pipes you need for smooth operation of the system. First it collects the water from rooftop to storage tanks. You need to put the water from the initial shower to the wastes as it contains some contamination and it should not enter into the storage. There are some flap system available which can control the flow of water manually or automatically. It can divert the rain water of the later stages to the storage. The pipes required for the collection should be of PVC or other inert materials. It is also necessary to arrange for the excess rain water to overflow.

Benefits of Rain water harvesting:
The collected rain water is generally far better in quality than that of surface water. Most of the contamination occurs with bird feces, dust and other particles. You need to through away the initial water flow. The quality of water is greatly increased if multiple tanks is used in a series instead of one. Collect the water from the last tank and from the surface rather than the bottom.
The best part of rain water harvesting is that you can use the water for drinking as well as irrigation and storage. The purification process for drinking purposes can be much less lengthy than those which we are currently following when we take water from external sources like rivers or lakes.
During water shortage it can be used as a independent source of water supply.
It can prevent drought by providing much needed water to quench the thirst.
It will prevent the flood in the low laying areas by holding the excess water into your storage.
The excess water which has been overflown for the storage can also replenish the ground water level.
It reduces the salinity and helps in the availability of clean water.
It is generally chlorine and fluoride free and thus provides and excellent water source for irrigation purposes.




What do you think about rain water harvesting. Please let me know by putting your thoughts into the comment box.