Rainwater harvesting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for reuse before it reaches the aquifer. Rainwater collected from the roofs of houses and local institutions is regarded as harvesting. Uses include water for garden, water for livestock, water for irrigation, cleaning of bathrooms as in first flush, etc. In many places the water collected is just redirected to a deep pit with percolation. The harvested water can be used fordrinking water as well if the storage is a tank that can be accessed and cleaned when needed. Rainwater harvesting provides an independent water supply during regional water restrictions, and in developed countries is often used to supplement the mains supply. Rainwater harvesting systems are appealing as they are easy to understand, install and operate. They are effective in 'green droughts' as water is captured from rainfall where runoff is insufficient to flow into dam storages. The quality of captured rainwater is usually sufficient for most household needs, reducing the need for detergents because rainwater is soft. Financial benefits to the users include that rain is 'renewable' at acceptable volumes despite climate change forecasts, and rainwater harvesting systems generally have low running costs, providing water at the point of consumption (Ferguson 2012). Benefits of widespread rainwater harvesting to the regional reticulated supply system may include reduced treatment, pumping, operation and augmentation costs, reducing peak storm water runoff and storm water processing costs, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions due to reduced dependence on pumping and potential augmentation through sources such as desalination (Coombes 2007, White, 2009).

Contents
[hide]

1 Quality 2 System Setup 3 Vendors 4 History o 4.1 Early era o 4.2 Present day 4.2.1 India 4.2.2 Sri Lanka 4.2.3 United Kingdom

5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links

[edit] Quality
The concentration of contaminants is reduced significantly by diverting the initial flow of runoff water to waste. [1] Improved water quality can also be obtained by using a floating draw-off mechanism (rather than from the base of the tank) and by using a series of tanks, with draw from the last in series. The stored rainwater may need to be analyzed properly before use in a way appropriate to its safety.

[edit] System Setup

Rainwater harvesting systems can be installed with minimal skills. [2] The system should be sized to meet the water demand throughout the dry season since it must be big enough to support daily water consumption. Specifically, the rainfall capturing area such as a building roof must be large enough to maintain adequate flow. Likewise, the water storage tank should be large enough to contain the captured water.[citation needed]

[edit] Vendors
There are three main types of companies operating in the rainwater harvesting industry: makers of water storage, makers of accessories, and integrators. Water storage companies make tanks, barrels, and underground cisterns. Accessories are added to facilitate or improve the water capturing process. Integrators are regional practitioners which install systems.[citation needed]

[edit] History
[edit] Early era Around the third century BCE, farming communities in Baluchistan (in presentday Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran), and Kutch (in present-day India) used rainwater harvesting for irrigation.[3] In ancient Tamil Nadu (India), rainwater harvesting were done by Chola kings.[4] Rainwater from the Brihadeeswarar temple was collected in Sivaganga tank.[5] During the later Chola period, the Vrnam tank was built (1011 to 1037 CE) in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu to store water for drinking and irrigation

purposes. Vrnam is a 16-kilometre (9.9 mi) long tank with a storage capacity of 1,465,000,000 cubic feet (41,500,000 m3). [edit] Present day

Currently in China and Brazil, rooftop rainwater harvesting is being practiced for providing drinking water, domestic water, water for livestock, water for small irrigation and a way to replenish ground water levels.Gansu province in China and semi-arid north east Brazil have the largest rooftop rainwater harvesting projects ongoing. In Bermuda, the law requires all new construction to include rainwater harvesting adequate for the residents. The U.S. Virgin Islands have a similar law. In Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, the houses of the Diola-people are frequently equipped with homebrew rainwater harvesters made from local, organic materials. In the Irrawaddy Delta of Myanmar, the groundwater is saline and communities rely on mud-lined rainwater ponds to meet their drinking water needs throughout the dry season. Some of these ponds are centuries old and are treated with great reverence and respect. Until 2009 in Colorado, water rights laws almost completely restricted rainwater harvesting; a property owner who captured rainwater was deemed to be stealing it from those who have rights to take water from the watershed. Now, residential well owners that meet certain criteria may obtain a permit to install a rooftop precipitation collection system (SB 09080).[6] Up to 10 large scale pilot studies may also be permitted (HB 091129).[7] The main factor in persuading the Colorado Legislature to change the law was a 2007 study that found that in an average year, 97% of the precipitation that fell in Douglas County, in the southern suburbs of Denver, never reached a streamit was used by plants or evaporated on the ground. In Colorado you cannot even drill a water well unless you have at least 35 acres. In New Mexico, rainwater catchment is mandatory for new dwellings in Santa Fe.[8] In Beijing, some housing societies are now adding rain water in their main water sources after proper treatment. In Ireland, Professor Micheal McGinley established a project to design a rain water harvesting prototype in the Biosystems design Challenge Module at University College Dublin. In Australia rainwater harvesting is typically used as a supplement to the reticulated mains supply, and it is mandated in many building codes. In south east Queensland, households that harvested rainwater doubled each year from 2005 to 2008, reaching 40% penetration at that time (White, 2009 (PhD)).

[edit] India

In India, rain water harvesting was first introduced by Andhra Pradesh exChief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. He made a rule that every house which is going to built in cities of that state must have a percolation pit/rainwater harvesting system. This rule increased the ground water level in good phase. After his term as Chief Minister, the next leaders neglected this system.[citation needed] In the state of Tamil Nadu, rainwater harvesting was made compulsory for every building to avoid ground water depletion. It proved excellent results within five years, and every other state took it as role model. Since its implementation, Chennai saw a 50 percent rise in water level in five years and the water quality significantly improved.[9][10] In Rajasthan, rainwater harvesting has traditionally been practiced by the people of the Thar Desert. There are many ancient water harvesting systems in Rajasthan, which have now been revived [11] Kerala: Main article: Rainwater harvesting in Kerala

At present, in Pune (in Maharashtra), rainwater harvesting is compulsory for any new society to be registered.

[edit] Sri Lanka

Rainwater harvesting has been a popular method of obtaining water for agriculture and for drinking purposes in rural homes. The legislation to promote rainwater harvesting was enacted through the Urban Development Authority (Amendment) Act, No. 36 of 2007.[12] Lanka rainwater harvesting forum[13] is leading the Sri Lanka's initiative.

[edit] United Kingdom

Main article: Rainwater harvesting in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, water butts are often found in domestic gardens to collect rainwater, which is then used to water the garden. However, the British government's Code For Sustainable Homes encourages fitting large underground tanks to new-build homes to collect rainwater for flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden, and washing cars. This reduces by 50% the amount of mains water used by the home.

[edit] See also

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Drinking water

Wikiversity has learning materials about Rain barrel

Sustainable development portal Ecology portal

Water conservation Peak water First flush

[edit] References
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2012)

1. ^ New Scientist, 3 April 1999. 2. ^ White I. (2009). Decentralised Environmental Technology Adoption: The household experience with rainwater harvesting. (PhD Thesis. Griffith University, Australia). 3. ^ "Rain water Harvesting". Tamilnadu State Government, India.http://www.tn.gov.in/dtp/rainwater.htm. Retrieved 23 January 2012. 4. ^ "Believes in past, lives in future". The Hindu (India). 17 July 2010.http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/07/17/stories/2010071754460800.htm . 5. ^ "Rare Chola inscription found near Big Temple". The Hindu (India). 24 August 2003.http://www.hindu.com/2003/08/04/stories/2003080402510500.htm. 6. ^ "Rainwater Collection in Colorado" (PDF).http://water.state.co.us/DWRIPub/Documents/DWR_Rain waterFlyer.pdf. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 7. ^ "Criteria and Guidelines for the "Rainwater Harvesting" Pilot Project Program" (PDF).http://cwcb.state.co.us/legal/documents/guidelines/finalrain waterpilotcg.pdf. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 8. ^ Johnson, Kirk (June 28, 2009). "Its Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/us/29rain.html?em. Retrieved 2009-06-30. "Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western states, making scofflaws of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned a century or more ago." 9. ^ "Rain Water Harvesting in Tamil Nadu increase water level by 50%". Hindu.com. 2009-0131.http://www.hindu.com/pp/2009/01/31/stories/2009013150010100.htm. Retrieved 2012-03-24.

10. ^ "Tamil Nadu praised as role model for Rainwater Harvesting". Thehindu.com. 2011-09-29.http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tpnational/tp-tamilnadu/article2495647.ece. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 11. ^ "Ancient water harvesting systems in Rajasthan". Rainwaterharvesting.org.http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/Rural/Traditio nal1.htm#kund. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 12. ^ http://www.lankarainwater.org/rwhsl/act_36_2007_e.pdf 13. ^ http://www.lankarainwater.org/

[edit] Bibliography

Coombes PJ (2007). Energy and economic impacts of rainwater tanks on the operation of regional water systems. Australian Journal of Water Resources 11 (2) 177 191. Ferguson M (2012) a 12-month rainwater tank water savings and energy use study for 52 real life installations. Ozwater12 COnference, Sydney, Australia: May 2012. Frasier, Gary, and Lloyd Myers. Handbook of Water Harvesting. Washington D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 1983 Geerts, S., Raes, D. (2009). Deficit irrigation as an on-farm strategy to maximize crop water productivity in dry areas. Agric. Water Manage 96, 12751284 Gould, John, and Erik Nissen-Peterson. Rainwater Catchment Systems. UK: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1999. Hemenway, Toby. Gaias Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2000. Lowes, P. (1987). "The Water Decade: Half Time". In in John Pickford (ed.). Developing World Water. London: Grosvenor Press International. pp. 1617. ISBN 0-946027-29-3. Ludwig, Art. Create an Oasis With Greywater: Choosing, Building, and Using Greywater Systems. California: Oasis Design, 1994. Pacey, Arnold, and Adrian Cullis. Rainwater Harvesting. UK: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1986. Pachpute J.S..(2010)A package of water management practices for sustainable growth and improved production of vegetable crop in labour and water scarce Sub-Saharan Africa.Agricultural Water Management.Volume 97, Issue 9, September 2010, Pages 1251-1258 Pachpute J S, Tumbo Siza D, Sally H, Mul M L .(2009).Sustainability of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Rural Catchment of Sub-Saharan Africa. Water Resources Management, Volume: 23, Issue: 13 (2009). White I (2009). Decentralised Environmental Technology Adoption: The household experience with rainwater harvesting. PhD Thesis. Griffith University.

[edit] External links

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Rainwater harvesting Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rainwater harvesting

Rainwater harvesting and purification system. The Texas Water Development Board International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) Rainwater Harvesting Potential Calculator Rainwater Harvesting website + blog Rainwater Harvesting Organisation RAIN The mission of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association is to promote sustainable rainwater-harvesting practices to help solve potable, non-potable, stormwater and energy challenges throughout the world.

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