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Rainwater Harvesting in Kathmandu Valley
Kanchan Mani Dixit Research Associate Nepal Water Conservation Foundation Email: kanchan@ntc.net.np 
Abstract
Rainwater collection is catching rain as it falls. The idea of Rainwater collection however is not new, theevidences have shown that it has been practised since pre-historic times. In Nepal, the first modern rainwa-ter collection system were built during the 1960s. At that time the idea of collecting rainwater couldnotgain popularity as there were abundant availability of water, however with the scarcity of water it isheavily practised today in urban and suburban areas of Nepal. In this paper I have attempted to show thescanario of water scarcity of Kathmandu Valley and discussed the alternatives to the municipal supply. My attempt has been to show that in the Kathmandu Valley, rainwater harvesting is only the best way to fullfullthe need than any other available alternatives explained below.
Preamble
Rainwater harvesting is a system based on collecting rainwater that falls on an impermeable surface andutilize later to meet the diverse requirement of people. It is the art of catching the water drops where they fall before they drain away or escape. The idea of rainwater harvesting, however, is not new. There is anevidence of water harvesting structures since pre historic times. During those times, rainwater was har- vested to meet the irrigation water needs rather than for drinking. Ponds, lakes and other storage struc-tures also had been built to capture falling rain and use it later. Greece and Palestine collect rainwater incisterns, made of rocks, from rooftops and paved spaces during the early periods (Agrawal and Narain,1997). By the middle of first century, there is evidence that cistern with storage volume of up to 75000 m
3
had been used. In Nepal too, rainwater was collected and used since ancient times. In the hills, peoplecollect rainwater using bamboo slices to meet their drinking water need. In most cases, the water collectedhas been used for cleaning, washing and irrigation. Similarly, community ponds have been built to collectrainwater and used by a community for washing and cleaning. Rainwater is also collected for the recre-ational purposes. Rainwater can be collected both at domestic and community level.There were no such scientific structures for rainwater collection until 1960s when rainwater collection wasfirst scientifically tested at Pokhara Hospital (Dixit, 2002). Similarly, the mission hospital in Tansen, Palpaconstructed a Rain Water Harvesting System (RWHS) in 1960s, which is still functioning today (Sainju
et al 
., 2000). The concept, however, could not gain popularity at the time because of abundant availability of  water. With shortage of potable fresh water, people started to collect rainwater for their domestic andindustrial uses. In the rural Nepal, initial effort to collect rainwater at household level was done by FINNIDA in Palpa and Gulmi districts. Since then Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS), Peace CorpsNepal, Nepal Water For Health (NEWAH), International Center for Mountain Resource Development(ICIMOD), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Nepal Water Conservation Foundation
 
(NWCF), and Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management (DSCWM) have been promot-ing the system in different districts of Nepal.The harvested rainwater is also used to recharge underground aquifer. People of Rajastan at Alwar collectrainwater in a pond to recharge underground water and as well as meet their daily demand like washingand cleaning. The stored rainwater maintains soil moisture as well as recharge underground water table.In Nepal, there are numerous ponds, which served as a water storage tank. The stored water is used duringthe dry periods. With the ongoing scarcity of both surface and groundwater, the popularity of community ponds is increasing. The ponds dug in Southern Lalitpur by Department of Soil Conservation and Water-shed Management is an example. Similarly, many of such ponds have been built in the catchment of Bagmati River at the foothills of Shivapuri (Dixit, 2002). Nepal Water Conservation Foundation is alsobuilding community ponds in Jhor, Dharmasthali, and Chunikhel in the Kathmandu Valley  to stabilizedand recharge underground aquifer  with support from local community. Many researches have confirmedthat storing rain water in a pond can provide soil with moisture, recharge underground table as well asstabilizes slopes in the hills.
Water demand of Kathmandu Valley
 A modern piped water supply system of the Kathmandu valley was introduced in 1891 in the form of theBir Dhara Works. Until 1891, the water supply needs of the city residents were met through springs, rivers,and shallow dug wells. Stone spouts locally called
dhunge dharas 
were common serving the three cities:Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. Water from these sources was used for daily household activities.Bir Dhara supplied water to some public standposts and some to Rana palaces. To augment the increasing water needs, another system called the Tri Bhim Dhara was built in 1928, which was administrated by 
Pani Goswara 
. Today NWSC is responsible for administrating drinking water service to the districts of Nepal.The pipe networks covers a total area of about 50 km
2
in Kathmandu and Patan and comprises around100,000 taps today (Dixit, 2002). From the last two decades, the population of Kathmandu Valley is alsoincreasing at the average growth rate of 4.04. The current population of valley is 11,68,000 and if thisgrowth rate continues, the population of Kathmandu valley is expected to be 22,90,000 by 2020. With theuncontrolled population growth, pressure is increasing on the drinking water. On one hand, the increasingpopulation is polluting the fresh water resources while on the other hand; rivers and streams are divertedto meet the drinking and other household needs by the government and non-government agencies. Moench
et al.
, (2003) writes that in 1999, the demand of water in the Kathmandu valley exceeded 155 MLD whilethe municipal supply system only delivered around 120 MLD in the wet and 60-70 MLD in the dry season.Today in 2005, the water demand of Kathmandu Valley have reached 214.4 MLD while NWSC can deliveronly 150 MLD in the wet and 100 MLD in dry season.
1
To compensate for shortage, the government isinvesting in a major scheme the Melamchi Project
2
to divert water from a stream outside the valley anddeliver it to Kathmandu through a 26.5 km long water transmission tunnel. However due to many techni-cal problems and the ongoing Maoist Insurgency, the project is not moving forward as expected and thecost of construction is rocketing every year. Hence it can be said that water supply to Kathmandu Valley through the project is yet uncertain. One study conducted by Nepal Water Conservation Foundation showsthat if we do not find alternative source of water, by 2015 (even if the Melamchi comes) Kathmandu Valley  will continue to have water scarcity.
 
The table 1 shows the minimum water requirements for different household activities in an urban area.However, due to the intermit water supply and limited water availability the distribution of water is notuniform in most places. Some places receives plenty water where as others do not receive any water at all.The above table shows that most of the water in an urban area is spent in cleaning and washing, where asonly three litres is needed for an individual for a day. There are many places in Kathmandu Valley wherethere is not that much supply of water also. On the contrary, industrial sectors consume much more water.Even though, the supply is very limited, many household in Kathmandu Valley usually a toilet flush of 12-15 liters capacity, which normally uses fresh water from the municipal supply or groundwater, extracted with centrifugal pump. If the harvested rainwater can supply this much water, around 70-80 liters of fresh water can be saved per day in a house of five family members. Also cost of electricity to run pump can besaved. If the water collected is clean, it can be used for other household purposes besides flushing toiletand water supplied from municipal supply can be used for drinking purposes only.The fact is that the State has been unable to provide even the minimum drinking water to its residents inmost part of Kathmandu Valley; on the other hand the lifestyle of people is changing affecting their waterconsumption habit. The water demand of an individual household is increasing while water supplied isdecreasing. In parallel, the population is on increase and the question remains as to when the residents of Kathmandu Valley will have sufficient drinking water? If not what are the alternatives?
Alternatives to Municipal Supply
Dhunge dharas
Stone spouts often called dhunge dharas are a popular source of water. The water collected is used for washing clothes, drinking, bathing and for other household purposes. Few conduits are also believed tohave healing powers against certain diseases like arthritis, goiter catarrh (commonly called pinash). Thesesystems are still used in most of the parts of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Most of these
dhunge dharas 
 werebuilt during Lichhavi and Malla era.
Water quality of dhunge dharas 
:
Even though the supply system of such spouts were systematic, thepopulation explosion and uncontrolled urbanization is creating stress on these structures often pollutingand damaging the recharging channels causing them to dry out. Similarly, wastes piling around the spoutsare blocking the drainage network and the stagnant water is becoming a breeding of vectors that transmit water borne diseases. During the monsoon, nearly all
dharas 
show high level of fecal coliform contamina-
T
ABLE
1
WATER
 
USE
 
IN
 
URBAN
 
HOUSEHOLDS
UseAmount
(litres)Washing hands/person 0.6Brushing teeth/person 2.0Toilet flush (one time) 15.0Bucket bath/person 20.0Shower bath/person 25.0Tub bath/person 80.0Washing machine/person 100.0Drinking/person 3.0
Source: Dixit, 2002
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