A

Field Report
On
Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting in
Kuvempu University
The Green Varsity Goes Green
By
W Rorrkychand Singh
Journalism and Mass-Communication

The world is confronting the problem of natural resources constrain.

Realizing this global phenomenon the Kuvempu University is successfully
implementing a project on harvesting rooftop rain water harvesting since 2007.

What is Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting (RRWH)

The university has three harvesting stations, two buildings Shatamanutsava

Bhavan and Guest House are flat with RCC roof and the third station in the
University’s Indoor stadium
Rain Water Harvesting Tank in Shatamanutsava Bhavan has combination of pitch and
RCC roof. According to the
data available in the
engineering section of the
university the total catchment
area of all the three station is
1781.73 square-meter, the
biggest tank is in Kuvempu
Shatamanutsava Bhavan
having storage capacity of
76,0000 liters, and other two
has 19,000 liters of storage
capacity each. As per rainfall
rate of 2010 data given by the
Gauging Sub-Division and Hydrometrological Station BRP, Shankarghatta
received 1399.5 mm rainfall in 2010.

ROOFTOP RAIN WATER HARVESTING IN KUVEMPU UNIVERSITY 1

 Asst. Executive Engineer Kuvempu University Vasu S told that the rain
water harvesting system was implemented in the year 2007; the main aim was to
supplement the needs of water within the campus. The harvested water is mainly
use for sanitary needs but in the Shatamanutsava Bhavan a special treatment is
done to purify the water and it is connected with the auaguard supplementing the
scarcity of drinking water. Rooftop Rain Water harvesting in the University is of
great success.

Inside the tank a sand filter is used to purify for a week the first rain is
diverted from the tank for cleaning the roof dirt’s and contamination. The rain
water harvested during the raining season is only last for 1-2 months, pumping
water is done to keep the tank full and to supply the needs, he added.

Rooftop Rain water Harvesting is

collected from the rooftop of the
buildings using rooftop space available
to collect water excluding the
peripheral wall thickness and any other
opening is the Effective Roof Area.
One can calculate the area by deviding
the roof area into convenient grids and
calculate the area of each grids For
Example A1 grid can be measure as= X
x Y and add the individual grid area to
find the total roof area, i.e. Sand Bed Filter
A1+A2+A3+A4+A5+A6+A7+A8... = A (Total area). (Source- The Karnataka State Council
for Science and Technology)

When inquired Dept. Water Management and Water Harvesting/ Dept. of

Environmental Science Professor Dr. Narayana told the harvested water is for
secondary use i.e. flushing, gardening, washing and sanitary, it’s mean to meet the
enormous water requirement for purposes within the campus. He added that to
make sure contamination free regular cleansing is done ensuring zero level of
spreading epidemic diseases from RRWH.

KSCST recommends some precaution to ensure pollution free water

 Keep the roof or the water collection area clean before the rains.
 Flush the rainwater collected for the first few minutes.

ROOFTOP RAIN WATER HARVESTING IN KUVEMPU UNIVERSITY 2

  Store the collected rainwater in a closed container (avoid sunlight).
 The quality of water deteriorates in the presence of sunlight and air.
 Water can be kept clean over a period of five to six months in a clean
container stored in an enclosed area protected from sunlight.

In the university’s Guest House harvested rain water is used for washing,
cleansing and sanitary
purposes said Asst.
Manager Guest House
Kuvempu University Manje
Gowda. The needs for water
in Guest House is in great
demand as to keep the place
clean, everyday 1000
(approx) liters are used. The
tank is clean once a month
and drinking water and rain
harvested rain water are
separated by different
Rain Water Harvesting Tank in Guest House
pipelines he added.

Rainfall Rate of 2010

Month Rainfall in mM
January 15.0
February 0
March 0
April 81.8
May 39.4
June 166.5
July 324.6
August 294.0
September 178.2
October 139.8
November 160.2
December 0

(Souce-The Gauging Sub-Division and Hydrometrological Station BRP)

ROOFTOP RAIN WATER HARVESTING IN KUVEMPU UNIVERSITY 3

Details of RRWH in Kuvempu University
Catchments area-
Kuvempu Shatamanutsava Bhavan 943 Sq m
Indoor Stadium 444.15 Sq m
Guest House 394.58 Sq m

Estimated cost-
Kuvempu Shatamanutsava Bhavan Rs. 76,000
Indoor Stadium Rs. 61,900
Guest House Rs. 50,200

Conduit Pipe-
In all stations

First Flush device-

Manually diverted

Filters-
Sand filters

Storage tank type-

Underground

Quantity of rain water harvested-

Kuvempu Shatamanutsava Bhavan-76000liters
Indoor Stadium-19000 liters
Guest House- 19000liters
Total- 114000

Utilization of rain water-

Mainly for Flushing and gardening, potable in Kuvempu
Shatamanutsava Bhavan purifying through Auaguard

Ground water recharging-

No in practice
Maintenance-
Periodical cleaning of roofs, storage tank and replacement of filter
medium in filters

ROOFTOP RAIN WATER HARVESTING IN KUVEMPU UNIVERSITY 4

Comparison of Physico-chemical characteristics of store rain water, Municipal
water, Bore well and Rain water sample with drinking water standard.
SL PARAMETER STORED MUNICIPAL BORE RAIN BIS WHO
NO RAIN WATER WELL WATER STANDARD-
WATER WATER S
1 Color(Hazen 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5-25 5-25
Unit)
2 Turbidity 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 5-25 5-25
(NTU)
3 Ph 7.84 7.69 7.58 6.32 6.5-9.2 6.5-
8.5
4 Electrical 355 110 749 27.5 - -
conductivity
(µmhos/cm)
5 Total 175 54.3 411 14.55 500-2000 300-
Dissolves 600
Solids(mg/L)
6 Total 20 15 75 7 - -
Acidity
(mg/L)
7 Total 102 48 318 10 200-600 200-
Alkalinity 600
(mg/L)
8 Total 96 36 324 11.6 300-600 300-
Hardness 600
(mg/L)
9 Calcium 29.6 8.0 46.4 2.24 75-200 75-
(mg/L) 200
10 Magnesium 4.46 3.66 49.5 1.48 30-100 50-
(mg/L) 150
11 Chloride 42.54 18.43 72.31 8.48 250-1000 200-
(mg/L) 600
Source: Department of Water management and water harvesting/ Environmental
Science Kuvempu University.

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