Rain Water Harvesting

Water is the most important element for life on earth. But due to its abundant nature it is wasted and not thought of its conservation which has led to the situation of its depleting quality and scarcity.It has now become the question of survival to look towards traditional or new methods for its conservation.
To look at conserving the water, the water available through rain is the most common source of freely available water which is pure and abundant. The concept of rainwater harvesting is not new and has been practiced since traditions.

Defining rainwater harvesting

Rainwater harvesting is the process of collecting and storing the rainwater under the ground for further use.

Why underground the rainwater?

Numerous reasons can be attached to favour this question like:

It is an economical source of water supplyr
It is sustainable and a reliable sourcer
It is universally availabler
More the underground water bed, less will be the situations of droughtr
It is the source for dry weather rivers and streamsr
It is less prone to pollutionr
It is more pure in respect to bacterial contaminationr
Needs less treatment before user
Has more health benefits as compared to surface waterr
Less turbid and colouredr
It is free from pathogens

Why rainwater harvesting?

There are various reason for rainwater harvesting;

To increase ground water tabler
To conserve surface water wastage during monsoonr
To minimise soil erosionr
To inculcate a habit of water conservationr
How to harvest rainwater?

The process of rainwater harvesting includes the following components

Catchment surface –
This is usually the hard surface – a rooftop or other raised solid surface. The amount of water harvested depends certain factors like on the quantity of rain, the size of the surface from where the water is collected and the slope of the catchment area.

The distribution system-

It is the gutters or the water spouts from which the rainwater thus collected is passed to the storage tanks or underground pits

Leaf screens and roof washers: This is recommended to remove the impurities from water like leaves, bird droppings and dust.

Storage tanks -This is the most important component of the process. The tanks comes in wide range of price, size and material to choose from. These tanks can be placed under or above the ground.

Certain factors should be considered while placing the tanks:
The storage tanks should be kept away from direct sunlight to avoid growth of algae

It should be placed closer to areas of use to reduce the distance and eliminate wastage of excess cost

It should be placed on stable and level area to avoid spilling and leaning and collapsing

To inhibit the growth of algae, storage tanks should be opaque and preferably placed away from direct sunlight.

The tanks should also be placed close to the areas of use and supply line to reduce the distance over which the water is delivered.

The tank should always be placed on a stable and level area to prevent it from leaning and possible collapsing.