Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2 PDF
2 PDF
2006, Nagpur
Rainfall Population
in mm
World
840
6 Billion
India
1150
1.0 Billion
Availability of
Water/Person/Yr
M 3 /P/Year
700
2200
Urban Areas
There are different / various system of water
harvesting depending upon the source of water
supply and places as classified below.
a) In situ Rainwater harvesting
Bunding and terracing.
Vegetative / stone contour barriers.
Contour trenching.
Contour stone walls.
Contour farming.
Micro catchments.
Tie ridging methods
Farm ponds.
b) Direct surface runoff harvesting
Roof water collection
Dug out ponds / storage tanks
Tankas
Kundis
Ooranis
Temple tanks
Diversion bunds
Water spreading
c) Stream flow / runoff harvesting
Nalla bunding
3
Arid
plains
Types of Water
Use
Artificial catchments
to capture rainfall
(tankas or kundis in
Rajasthan)
Drinking
Tanks or talabs in
Rajasthan to capture
surface runoff
Drinking
and
irrigation
Embankments /
Irrigation
obstructions across
water & also
drainage / Nalla to
for recharging
capture surface runoff
Semi
Arid
places
Tanks / Ponds/Eri to
capture surface runoff
and also chains of
tanks called cascade.
Irrigation
water and
drinking water
through
recharge of
ground water
3.
Flood
plains
Mud embankment
which may be
breached during the
floods.
Irrigation
water and
drinking water
through
recharging
ground water
2.
Urban Sectors
Mostly the roof water harvesting measures are taken
up.
a.
India
i. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore,
all main buildings.
ii. PRICOL, Periyanaickenpalayam (Industry
Building), Coimbatore
iii. TWAD Board / office and PWD office at
Chennai.
iv. Numerous Apartment buildings in Chennai.
v. Sundaram and Clayton Ltd, Padi, Chennai
(Industry buildings)
vi. TVS training schoool at Vanagaran, Chennai
vii. Rastrapathi Bhavan, Delhi.
viii. Center of science and environment building at
Delhi.
ix. Institute of economic growth, New Delhi.
b.
Foreign Countries
i. Thailand Many houses including thatched
houses in villages.
ii. Japan office complex.
iii. Germany office buildings.
iv. Singapore office buildings.
References
Ake Nilsson, Ground water dams for small-scale water
supply, IT publication, 1988.
Center for science and environment. A water-harvesting
manual, Delhi 2001.
Center for Science and Environment Making water
everybodys business, New Delhi, 2001.
Chitale M.A., A blue revolution, Bhavans Book
University, Pune 2000.
CII, Rainwter harvesting A guide, New Delhi 2000.
Rajiv Gandhi, National Drinking water missions
Handbook on Rainwater harvesting, Government of India,
New Delhi, 1998.
Sivanappan, R.K., Soil and Water Conservation and
Water harvesting, Tamil Nadu Afforestation project,
Chennai, 1999.
Sivanappan, R.K. Water harvesting, ICCI, Coimbatore
2001.
Stockholm water Symposium Water harvesting
Stockholm, Aug 1998.
Verma HN & Tiwan KN current status and Prospects of
Rain Water Harvesting, NIH, Roorkee, 1995.
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
ABSTRACT
By 2025, world population will be 8 billion water will become scarcer. Global
farming accounts for 70% of water use, while only 17% of farmland is irrigated and
it provides only 40% (estimated) of worlds food. Water application losses in irrigation
are quite high almost 40 % of the total irrigation water is lost. Per capita irrigated
agricultural land is declining main reason shortage of water. Water table is falling
steadily in intensive farming regions. People and ecosystems are under threat from
persistent chemicals like pesticides, fertilizers and heavy metals in waters. There are
no serious efforts to gain water by practices like rainwater harvesting, watersheds
and mini-ponds, reuse and recycling of waste water. It is said there is enough freshwater
in world however, it is not always available in the right place or right form. The
problem is mainly of access, distribution, and optimum utilization.
The paper discusses related concerns and outlines what need to be done.
Key words : Fresh water, harvesting and conservation of water, water reuse, water
management in agro-ecosystems, electronics and IT based devices.
1.0
WHAT NEED TO BE DONE? Some
suggestions
1.1
Ground Water Recharge, Reuse, and
Efficient Systems
1.2
* Selection Grade Assistant Professor (Electrical Engineering), Department of Agricultural Structures and
Environmental Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University,
Krishi Nagar, Adhartal P.O., Jabalpur 482 004, Email : vijaya_agarwal@gmail.com Phone : 0761 2681820
** Retired Director Instrumentation & Project Coordinator UNDP-GOI-MAEP, JNAU, G-83 Krishi Nagar,
Adhartal P.O., Jabalpur 482 004 Email : jhagarwal@sancharnet.in Phone : 0761 2680400
6
Temperature regulation,
Photosynthesis,
Transport of nutrients from soil to plant, and
Transport of assimilates from plant parts to the
produce location.
1.3
2.0
SOIL-MOISTURE MEASUREMENT
SYSTEMS
A variety of electronics and microprocessorbased devices for soil-moisture measurement are
available for scientific water management in agroecosystems. Some of the devices are based on
electrical impedance, infrared thermometry and
time-domain reflectometry. Salient features of five
such devices are given below:
1. Gro-Point GP-ERS Moisture Sensor and
Irrigation Management System (ESI
Environment Sensors Inc., Canada,
web site : www.esica.com ).
Soil moisture range: 5 50 % (volumetric) +/1%.
Rechargeable battery or mains operated.
Available with hand-held display or with data
logger.
Intelligent Irrigation System, with a set of
sensors, computer,
software and irrigation controller.
4.0
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Water is a very valuable resource. There are
no serious efforts to gain water by practices like
rainwater harvesting, watersheds and mini-ponds.
Rainwater harvesting should be made mandatory.
Sequential water use (reuse, recovery and recycling
of waste waters) should be planned wherever
possible so that the load on fresh water can be
reduced. Waters presence in agro-ecosystems
should be treated on a holistic approach, and by
employing scientific management tools it should be
judiciously used. For agriculture, an integrated
water management practice consisting of three main
components rain water harvesting, water-saving
micro-irrigation, and highly efficient crop
production should be adopted. Conservation of
water should be taken as a way of life and widely
adopted.
SELECTED READING
Goodchild, M.F., B.O. Parks and L.T. Steyaert
(Eds.). Environmental Modelling with GIS.
Oxford University Press, New York, 1993.
Berkhoff, J. A Strategy for Managing Water in
the Middle East and North Africa. World Bank,
Washington, DC, 1994.
Bian, F., Z. Sha and W. Hong. An integrated
GIS and knowledge-based decision support
system in assisting farm-level agronomic
decision-making. J. Geogr. Syst., 1995, 3, pp.
49-67.
Soil-Moisture Systems. ESI Canada <
www.esica.com > , Irrometer USA
< www.irrometer.com > , Sentek Australia <
www.sentek.com.au > .
Hinrichsen, D., B. Robey and U. D.
Upadhyay. Solutions for a Water-Short World.
2.
Soil-Moisture Probes :
APPENDIX
(a) Soil-Moisture Probe for moisture measurements in the
root zone of a crop (Sensors are mounted on a screwable
insert )
% of Rainfall
2
4
1
8
27
18
11
17
5
7
100
(b)
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
ABSTRACT
Water is our most precious natural resource and something that most of us take for
granted. We are now increasingly becoming aware of the importance of water to our survival
and its limited supply. The human beings require water for various purposes. The most part
of the earth surface i.e. about 71 % is covered by water. Out of total volume of water
available on the surface of the earth 97 % is saline water, 2 % water is in the form of ice
and glaciers and only 1 % is fresh and potable water. India is well endowed nations in the
world in terms of average annual rainfall. It is unbelievable but it is true that Cherapunji
which gets 11000 mm annual rainfall still suffers from serious drinking water shortage.
Though Indias average annual rainfall is 1170 mm; in the deserts of western India it is as
low as about 100 mm. Hence, it is necessary to opt for rainwater harvesting measures for
fulfillment of water requirement.
INTRODUCTION
India is one of the developing countries. Due
to faster industrialization and urbanization and
increase in population water demand is increasing
day by day. Rainfall in India is highly irregular. Most
of it is concentrated during a few months of the year
and maximum amount flows away resulting in poor
recharge of ground water. There is significant spatial
imbalance in water resource available and water
demand. Therefore, it is becoming necessary to
bring water from distant places increasing the cost
of conveyance. It is also a common observation that
underground water table is depleting due to
uncontrolled extraction of water. The state of
Maharashtra covers an area of 307,713 square km
and supports a population of 82 million. Over half
of this population is in rural area which faces
problems related to water. Conventional sources like
open well, bore well and piped water supplies have
failed due to depleting water tables, poor water
quality and high cost involved in operation and
maintenance. Every year a great amount of water
is being lost that falls on terraces, all of which finds
its way to the storm water drains. Rain water
* Lecturers in Civil Engineering Dept; Govt. College of Engineering, Aurangabad (M.S.) 431 005
10
COMPONENTS
OF
RAINWATER
HARVESTING STRUCTURE
All rainwater harvesting structures will have three
basic components:
1. Catchment area i.e. the surface area utilized for
capturing the rainwater.
2. Collection device, like tanks or cisterns or
percolation pits used for collecting or holding
the water.
3. Conveyance system i.e. the system of pipes or
percolation pits through which water is
transported from the catchment area to the
collection device.
I) Cost of excavation :
13
REFERENCES
1. Gawai A.A. and Aswar D.S. (2006) Towards
Self reliance for Water Needs through Rain
Water Harvesting Conference on Engineering
Technology for Efficient Rain Water Harvesting
and Soil Conservation, S.G.G.Nanded, 29-30
May 2006.pp. 1-7
2. Kaushal Kishore (2004) Rain Water
Harvesting, Journal of Civil Engineering and
Construction Review, May 2004, pp.42-48
Magar R.B. and Waghmare S.T. . (2006) Rain
Water Harvesting Conference on Engineering
Technology for Efficient Rain Water Harvesting
and Soil Conservation, S.G.G.Nanded, 29-30
May 2006.pp. 44-51
CONCLUSION
Water is essential element of life. Everyone
knows that, if we do not harness available sources
of water and use them judiciously with proper care
the problem of water scarcity is going to be serious.
Irrespective of fast development in all fields of
science there can be no substitute to water. Hence,
it is necessary to opt for various water harvesting
measures. It is the responsibility of government
organization as well as individual to harvest each
drop of water falling on earth surface. For this, it is
necessary that each person collect the raindrops
14
15
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
Abstract
It is clear from the World water quantity that out of total available water, only 0.3%
is available for human consumption. But today even this is getting polluted due to human
activities like mining, industrialization has created acute shortage of potable drinking water.
Rain water harvesting is one of the most ancient and easy methods that can be adopted at
urban and rural level efficiently.
The aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of using harvested rainwater as
a source of drinking water without causing any health risk. This can be achieved by adopting
suitable storage technique efficient and economical treatment methods.
Roof harvested rainwater samples were collected from five different places of
Bangalore during October 2005. The water samples were collected and stored in good
grade plastic containers and were subjected to periodical treatments (like chlorination,
solar disinfections and use of silver nitrate) and tests fro and use of silver nitrate and tests
for physical chemical and Biological parameters up to May 2006 as per IS 10500:1991.
All the above treatment methods suggested proved to be highly effective in reducing
the colonies fro an initial value of around 300 to zero.
Introduction
For centuries world has relied upon rainwater
harvesting to supply water. Rainwater harvesting
promotes self sufficiency and fosters an appreciation
for water as a resource. It saves money, saves other
resources of water, reduces erosion and storm water
runoff and increases water quality.
Rainwater can provide clean, safe and reliable
water for drinking so long as the collection system
is properly constructed and maintained and treated
appropriately for its intended use.
Rainwater harvesting means capturing rain
where it falls or capturing the runoff in a village or
town and taking all precautions to keep it unpolluted.
One third of worlds population will
experience severe water scarcity by the end of this
century. In rural areas, the water may not be fit for
drinking due to the polluted water bodies, due to
contaminated ground water and also due to acute
water scarcity. In urban areas, water demand
Do
mg/l of
Hardness
mg/l
Chloride
mg/l
Alkalinity Acidity
mg/l of
mg/l of
CaCO3
CaCO3
1. Banashankari
14/08/05
4.6
7.8
56
13.96
86
06
2. MSRIT
17/01/06
6.3
8.4
7.7
22
16
30
08
3. Shivajinagar
4. Vijayanagar
5. Vidyaranyapura
21/11/05
18/01/06
12/12/05
8.3
11.9
7.3
8.11
7
8
8
7.7
8.1
58
58
46
13.2
21.3
12
40
46
18
06
12
14
Solar disinfection
Chlorination
Silver Nitrate
Silver nitrate is very small doses of 0.05 to
0.1 mg/l helps in disinfecting the drinking water.
Silver nitrate in smaller doses does not impart any
taste, odour or produces any harmful effect on
human body.
Chlorination
Chlorination is one of the most reliable
methods of disinfecting drinking water. In this
method the calculated amount of chlorine is added
to one litre of water sample for a specified tune and
thereafter tested for the coliform counts.
Solar Disinfection
Solar disinfection is a process where in
microbes are destroyed through temperature and
ultra violet radiation provided by the fun.
Water is filled either in a clean transparent or
painted (Black) bottle oxygenated by shaking,
followed by topping up. It is placed in the horizontal
portion on tope exposed to direct sunlight for about
1. Banashankari
2. MSRIT
3. Shivajinagar
4. Vijayanagar
5. Vidyaranyapura
Date of Collection
20/10/05
25/10/05
25/10/05
25/10/05
28/10/05
17/05/06
17/05/06
17/05/06
17/05/06
17/05/06
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Date of
Date of Expt
Collection
Transparent Bottle
Chlorination
Silver nitrate
(Average of 3 tests)
1. Banashankari
20/10/05
17/03/06
40
2. MSRIT
25/10/05
24/03/06
38
3. Shivajinagar
25/10/05
02/04/06
40
4. Vijayanagar
25/10/05
15/04/06
35
5. Vidyaranyapura
25/10/05
21/04/06
28
Date of
Date of Expt.
Collection
Chlorination
1. Banashankari
20/10/05
17/03/06
2. MSRIT
25/10/05
24/03/06
3. Shivajinagar
25/10/05
02/04/06
4. Vijayanagar
25/10/05
15/04/06
5. Vidyaranyapura
28/10/05
21/04/06
Conclusions
Rainwater collection is easy and economical
both in rural and urban areas.
Rainwater harvested during Oct 2005, tested till
May 2006 without much changes in physical
properties like colour, odour & turbidity, inspite
of the fact that they were from various sources
and stored in normal food grade plastic
containers.
All the treatment methods suggested are highly
effective in reducing the microbiological
contamination and also viable both at rural and
urban levels.
Rainwater harvesting and its treatment is
affordable by individuals and will be highly
useful in drought prone areas.
Future
It is suggested that similar investigations are
made on a number of samples collected from
different places, stored under different conditions.
18
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank the management
of M.S.Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore
560054 for all the encouragements & inspiration
provided for the study. Also many thanks are due to
Mr.Sunil Hegde, Mr.Anantha Padmanabha &
Mr.Vinay Final Year B.E. Students for their help
during the course of the experimental investigations.
6.
7.
References :
1. Bell, F.A.Jr, D.L.Jerry, J.K.Smoth, and
S.C.Lynch, Studies on home water treatment
systems. Jr.Am water works Assoc. 75:104-1071984.
2. Davies C.M., and Evison L M Sunlight & the
survival of entropic bacteria in natural water
Journal of applied Bacteriology 7, 265-2741991.
3. Drinking water standards, www.epa.gov/safe
water/md.html.
4. I.S. 10500:1991 Drinking Water Standards.
5. Jalbottt R Rural water supply and Sanitation
program in India Goals, roles & innovation.
8.
9.
10.
19
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
*B.Sc., B.E. (Hon), AMICE (USA), Ex- Superintending Engineer, 54, Tatya Tope Nagar, Nagpur
20
22
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
Introduction :
Indias total land area is 3287263 Sqkm. The
cultivated land is 55.7% i.e., 183.09 million hectors.
Average annual rainfall is 117 Cm; average monsoon
rainfall is 55 Cm. The occupation of about 70% of
people in India is agriculture. The population of
India is fed on the food production of the country.
Main source of water in this country is rainfall
during monsoon season. The rainfall mainly
confined in the months from June to September. But
it is not regular and erratic with respect to both time
and place. Now a days drought and floods are the
sever hazards in different parts of our country. The
requirement of agricultural produce is expected to
rise steeply by 2025.Hence India must concentrate
on increasing area under irrigation and improving
the productivity of both land and water to meet the
needs of the population. The demand of water
increasing due to several factors such as increase in
population growth, which has led to a situation in
which water has become a scarce resource. Hence
it is very essential to harvest rainwater during rainy
season. Rainwater harvesting is the intentional
collection of rain water from a surface and its
subsequent storage in order to supply water during
the time of demand. Rain water harvesting is
essential in view of the fact that rainfall, which is a
source of fresh water, occurs in very short spells
and runs off as a waste unless arrangements are
made for its storing.
Main source of irrigation development are
dams and canals. Other option are water harvesting
structure such as for ground water development,
surface minor irrigation systems, watershed
* Deputy Executive Engineer, Medium Irrigation, I & C.A.D.Department, Govt. of A.P., Hyderabad
23
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
(ix)
(9)
References :
(1) Innovative participatory technologies for
water shed development in drought prone
areas of India by Sri. T. Hanmanth Rao,
Consultant of united nation.
(2) Hand book for planning water shed
management works, Government of India,
Ministry of water resources, CWC,
December, 2000.
(3) Paper on Irrigation development in India
by Sri. Uddhao Wankede published in
proceedings of National Seminar on
Irrigation development India held from 910 October 2004 hosted by the Institution of
Engineers (India), Nagpur local Center.
(4) Irrigation manual by Illys.
(5) Rain water harvesting a case study in a
collage campus in Mysore, by Sri. M. R.
YADUPATHI PUTTY & Sri. P.RAJE URS,
Dept. of civil engineering, National Institute
of Engineering, Mysore published in
Hydrology Journal of Indian Association of
Hydrologist volume 28, November 3-4,
September December 2005.
26
ANNEXURE - I
Monsoon Rainfall ( in mm ) of different Rain guage stations of R.R. District in A.P
S.No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
Year
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Medchal
N/A
N/A
N/A
759.9
710.3
671.9
468.2
804.2
663.4
600.9
754.9
797.7
547.8
957.6
784.4
566.7
720.1
584.1
783.3
440.3
845.2
1102.8
862.8
1858.5
673.7
563.1
445.9
604.8
933.4
845.3
760.4
624.8
645.8
767.5
787.2
899.9
775.8
533.6
988.6
701.3
791.3
589.6
629.4
Tandur
N/A
909.1
1063.6
942.8
751.5
663.6
493.1
670.2
652.3
684.4
992.9
459.3
454
1097
850
1116.5
725.1
480.8
1216.6
585.2
650.5
711.9
665.9
1036.6
651.6
822.6
645
853.8
961.1
864.4
1173
767.4
795.8
697.2
479.8
790.8
758.6
648.3
1342.1
670.7
861.9
N/A
N/A
27
Himayat Sagar
551.2
571.2
856
751.8
710.8
796
689.4
865.4
440.9
452.4
842
497.6
221.7
633.5
614.4
1689.6
906.8
568.5
1009.7
564.6
577.6
660.1
564.6
793.2
595.6
550.9
586
795.5
741.4
711.5
721.6
393.4
611.9
479.8
598.7
1077
803.7
514.4
983.5
540.8
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Not Available.
Annexure- II
Statement showing the surplus yield beyond 75% dependability
No.
Year
Monsoon
Rainfall
in mm
Yield per
Sq.miles
in MCft
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
909.1
1063.6
942.8
751.5
663.6
493.1
670.2
652.3
684.4
992.9
459.3
454
1097
850
1116.5
725.1
480.8
1216.6
585.2
650.5
711.9
665.9
1036.6
651.6
822.6
645
853.8
961.1
864.4
1173
767.4
795.8
697.2
479.8
790.8
758.6
648.3
1342.1
670.7
861.9
27.25
38.566
29.53
17.742
13.317
6.479
13.628
12.783
14.297
33.148
5.417
5.255
41.248
23.447
42.841
16.322
6.079
51.618
9.872
12.698
15.647
13.426
36.404
12.75
21.767
12.437
23.691
30.863
24.37
47.745
18.627
20.213
27.448
6.048
19.926
18.139
12.593
52.838
13.652
24.21
Total Yeild
from
subgroup
C.A ( 20 Sqm)
Yeild
Available
@ 75% PL
545
771.32
590.6
354.84
266.34
129.58
272.56
255.66
285.94
662.96
108.34
105.1
824.96
468.94
856.82
326.44
121.58
1032.36
197.44
253.96
312.94
268.52
728.08
255
435.34
248.74
473.82
617.26
487.4
954.9
372.54
404.26
548.96
120.96
398.52
362.78
251.86
1056.76
273.04
484.2
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
255.64
28
Surplus
Yeild
289.36
515.68
334.96
99.2
10.7
-126.06
16.92
0.02
30.3
407.32
-147.3
-150.54
569.32
213.3
601.18
70.8
-134.06
776.72
-58.2
-1.68
57.3
12.88
472.44
-0.64
179.7
-6.9
218.18
361.62
231.76
699.26
116.9
148.62
293.32
-134.68
142.88
107.14
-3.78
801.12
17.4
228.56
% of Surplus
Yeild beyond
75 % PL
113.19
201.72
131.03
38.8
4.19
-49.31
6.62
0.01
11.85
159.33
-57.62
-58.89
222.7
83.44
235.17
27.7
-52.44
303.83
-22.77
-0.66
22.41
5.04
184.81
-0.25
70.29
-2.7
85.35
141.46
90.66
273.53
45.73
58.14
114.74
-52.68
55.89
41.91
-1.48
313.38
6.81
89.41
29
30
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
INTRODUCTION :
Water is the most important resource of the
entire society as a whole, since no life is possible
without water. As water, being a limited resource,
its efficient use is basic to the survival of the ever
increasing population of the world. In India, the
ground water is mainly used for drinking and
agricultural purposes. About 85% of drinking water
is available through dug well, bore well, filter point
and tube well etc. The per-capital availability of
water at national level has reduced from about 5,177
m3 in the year 1951 to present level of 1,869 m3.
In view of this, water management is very critical
for the growth and development of any economy,
more so in a large country like India which is
endowed with many large rivers, lakes and wells
that need to be conserved, better managed, recharged
and channellised for meeting the ever growing
requirement of agriculture, industrial and urban
growth. Moreover exploitation of ground water has
been taken up by millions of individual farmers
mostly in regions where surface water is either
scarce or absent to meet their dire water needs.
Although this has lead to local depletion or decline
of ground water levels causing serious concern about
rainwater harvesting & the need to recharge ground
water. The quantum of ground water so far harnessed
is one third of the replenishable ground water of
431 km3 a year. In the comprehensive strategy
needed for the conservation and development of
water resources, several factors are to be kept in
view. These include the availability of water, its
quality, location, distribution and variation in its
occurrence, climatic conditions, nature of the soil,
competing demands & Socio-economic conditions.
In dealing with each of these, every effort must be
made to make the best use of water for the survival
of human life, animal and plant life.
WATER AVAILABILITY :
India receives precipitation (including
snowfall & rain) of around 4,000 billion cubic
metres (BCM), only 1,869 BCM is accessible water,
of which India uses barely a third. Nearly 1,179
BCM of water drains in to the sea. Region, whose
yearly renewable freshwater availability is below
1,700 m3/ person is called as the water stress region.
And the region whose yearly availability falls below
1,000 m3 / person is termed as water scarcity region.
But national figure of annual average per capita
water availability is 2,464m3. It shows that the
country is not in the water stress range so far.
However in some regions per capita availability is
as low as 411m3. (Kanyakumari, Pennar, Kutchh,
Kathiawar, Krishna basin, etc. )
The run-off which is about 215 MHM needs
to be arrested by making proper planning on micro
level as well macro level. Microlevel means water
conservation schemes of the state governments
which is to be implemented in every village. But on
macro level, a large chunk of water must be arrested
by programme like national river linking.
Availability and utilization of water in India is
shown in table No.1 & Fig. No.1.
Table No. 1
No. Item
Quantity
(Cu.Kms.)
*Lect.in Civil Engg., Govt. Polytechnic, Nanded **Lect.in Civil Engg., Govt. Polytechnic, Washim
31
4,000
1,869
1,967
1,122
690
432
Evaporates
70 MHM
Percolates
115 MHM
Moist soils
65 MHM
Run - off
215 MHM
Roof
top
Area
200
1.6
2.4
3.2
4.0
4.8
5.6
6.4
7.2
8.0
12.0
16.0
20.0
24.0
32.0
40.0
80
160
3.2
4.8
6.4
8.0
9.6
11.2
12.8
14.4
16
24
32
40
48
64
80
160
320
(Sq.m)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
150
200
250
300
400
500
1000
2000
300
400
500
600
800
Harvested Water from Roof Top (Cum) @ 80%
4.8
7.2
9.6
12.0
14.4
16.8
19.2
21.6
24.0
36.0
48.0
60.0
72.0
96.0
120.0
240
480
6.4
9.6
12.8
16.0
19.2
22.4
25.60
28.80
32.0
48.0
64.0
80.0
96.0
128.0
160.0
320
640
9.6
14.4
19.2
24.0
28.8
33.6
38.4
43.2
48.0
72.0
96.0
120.0
144.00
192.0
240.0
480
960
12.8
19.2
25.6
32.0
38.4
44.8
51.2
57.6
64.0
96.0
128.0
160.0
192.0
256.0
320.0
640.0
1280.0
16.0
24.0
32.0
40.0
48.0
56.0
64.0
72.0
80.0
120.0
160.0
200.0
240.0
288.0
400.0
800.0
1600.0
x 100
8.0
12.0
16.0
20.0
24.0
28.0
32.0
36.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
160.0
200.0
400
800
1000
x 100 = 25%
34
RECHARGING OF UNDERGROUND
STORAGE :
In order to store the surplus surface water
the artificial surface reservoirs are constructed by
building dams, in the summer, artificial underground
reservoirs are now-a-days developed by artificial
recharge for storing water underground.
The development of such a reservoirs may be
advantageous as compared to the development of a
dam reservoir, because of the following reasons.
i)
Much pure water can be obtained from an
underground reservoir source.
ii)
No space is required for building such a
reservoir.
iii) The cost of building such a reservoir by
recharging the aquifers may be considerably
less than the cost of the surface reservoirs.
Moreover in an underground reservoir, the
aquifer in which the water is stored shall itself
act as a distribution system for carrying the
water from one place to another, and as such,
the necessity of constructing pipe lines or
canals (as is required in a surface reservoir)
is completely eliminated.
iv) The water lost in evaporation from an
underground reservoir is much less than the
water lost from a surface reservoir.
v)
The raising of the water table by artificial
recharge may help in building pressure
barriers to prevent sea water intrusion in the
coastal areas.
Recharge-well Methods :
This method consists in injecting the water
in to bore holes called recharge wells. Depending
upon the favorable condition of surface, the water
is fed in to recharge wells by gravity or for increasing
the recharge rate, it may be pumped under pressure.
The recharge wells used are just like ordinary
production wells. In fact the ordinary wells are
many a times could directly used for recharge during
the off season, when the water is not required in
use. With this method high recharge rates can be
obtained. This method is widely used in Israel.
Moreover, this method may help in injecting water
in to the aquifers and also where it is most needed.
To avoid clogging of the well screens, the water
used for recharging well should be free from
suspended impurities.
3.
METHODS OF RECHARGING :
The below mentioned methods are being
generally adopted for ground water recharging.
1.
Spreading Method.
2.
Recharge-well Method.
3.
Induced Infiltration Method.
1.
Spreading Methods :
This method consists in spreading the water
over the surfaces of permeable open land and pits,
from where it directly infiltrates to rather shallow
aquifers. In this method, the water is temporarily
stored in shallow ditches or is spread over an open
area by constructing low earth dykes (called
percolation bunds). The stored water, slowly and
steadily, percolates downward so as to join the
nearby aquifers. The recharging rate depends upon
b)
35
36
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
Identification of Area
The artificial recharge projects are site specific
and even the replication of the techniques from
similar areas are to be based on the local hydrogeological and hydrological environments. The first
step in planning the project is to demarcate the area
of recharge. The artificial recharge of ground water
is normally taken in following areas:
1. Areas where ground water levels are declining
on regular basis.
2. Areas where substantial amount of aquifer has
already been de-saturated.
3. Areas where availability of ground water is
inadequate in lean months.
4. Areas where salinity ingress is taking place.
2.
Scientific Inputs
In order to plan the artificial recharge schemes
following studies are needed.
* Lecturer in Applied Mechanical Dept., M.H. Saboo & Siddik Polytechnic, Byculla, Mumbai - 8
37
Geophysical Studies
The main purpose of applying geophysical
methods for the selection of appropriate site for
artificial recharge studies is mostly to help and
assess the unknown sub-surface hydro geological
conditions economically, adequately and
unambiguously. Mostly it is employed to narrow
down the target zone, pinpoint the probable site for
artificial recharge structure and its proper design.
Concept :
38
a.
.
b.
c.
3.
Stream Augmentation
Seepage from natural streams or rivers is
one of the most important sources of recharge of
the ground water reservoir. When total water supply
available in a stream / river exceeds the rate of
infiltration, the excess is lost as run off. This run
off can be arrested through check bunds or widening
the steam beds thus larger area is available to spread
the river water increasing the infiltration. The site
selected for check dam should have sufficient
thickness of permeable bed or weathered formation
to facilitate recharge of stored water within short
span of time. The water stored in these structures is
mostly confined to stream course and height is
normally less than 2 m. To harness maximum run
off, a series of such check dam may be constructed.
Indirect Techniques
Induced recharge from surface water source
.
d. Recharging Techniques to arrest sea water
intrusion
I
DIRECT METHODS
4.
B.
Figure (3) Generalized cross-section of artificial
recharge of groundwater using a surface
spreading technique.
SUB-SURFACE METHODS
Settlement tank :
Settlement tanks are used to remove silt and
other floating impurities from rainwater. A
settlement tank is like an ordinary storage container
having provisions for inflow (bring water from the
catchment), out flow (carrying water to the recharge
well) and over flow. A settlement tank can have an
unpaved bottom surface to allow standing water to
percolate into the soil.
Apart from removing silt from the water, the
de-silting tank acts like a buffer is the system. In
case of excess rainfall, the rate of recharge,
especially of bore wells may not match the rate of
rainfall. In such situations, the de-silting chamber
holds the excess amount of water till it is soaked up
the recharge structure.
Design Parameters :
Providing the following elements in the system
can ensure the quality of water entering the
recharging wells.
1. Filter mesh at entrance point of roof top drains.
2. Settlement Chamber.
3. Filter bed.
(4)
Recharge trenches :
41
42
D. RECHARGING TECHNIQUES TO
ARREST SEA WATER INTRUSION
The situation of over-extraction of ground
water in coastal aquifers cause problem of seawater
intrusion. The method that is used to control sea
water intrusion is to use recharge well barriers
through a line of injection tube wells driven parallel
to the coast. This mechanism establishes a pressure
ridge which pushes the saline front seawards.
SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS
Whether the harvested water is used for direct
usage or for recharging ground water, it is of utmost
importance to ensure that the rainwater collected is
free of any pollutants that might be added to
rainwater from the atmosphere or the catchment.
While polluted water directly used for consumption
would have an immediate impact on health, polluted
water recharged into the ground would cause long
term problems of aquifer pollution. Damage done
to aquifers by recharging polluted water is
irreversible.
Most of the precautions to ensure rainwater
quality have been summarized below.
(1) At the catchment level
8 Keeping the catchment clean
8 Using gratings to trap debris at the catchment
itself
8 Paving the catchment with ceramic tiles stone
tile or other such non erosive materials
II INDIRECT METHODS
C. INDUCED RECHARGE
It is an indirect method of artificial recharge
involving pumping from aquifer hydraulically
connected with surface water such as perennial
streams, unlined canal or lakes. The heavy pumping
lowers the ground water level and cone of
depression is created. Lowering of water levels
induces the surface water to replenish the ground
water. This method is effective where stream bed is
connected to aquifer by sandy formation.
The greatest advantage of this method is that
under favourable hydro geological situations the
quality of surface water generally improves due to
43
References:
1. A Water Harvesting Manual Published by Centre for Science and
Environment
2. Guide on Artificial Recharge to Ground Water Published by Central Ground
Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources
3. web site www.rainwaterharvesting.org
4. www.waterencyclopedia.com
5. http://www.aboutrainwaterharvesting.com/rwh_methods.htm
44
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
**Prof. R. B. Magar
Abstract :
A project is being undertaken for the feasibilty study of RainWater Harvesting for
the buildings in the premises of Fr.Agnel Technical Education Complex, Vashi. The
research is being carried out as a part of one of the objectives of Agnel Seva
Ashram, Save Electricity & WaterAbhiyan (SEWA ). In a city like Mumbai, where
the ground surface is heavily concretised, the main way to harvest rainwater is to
tap the water falling on the terraces of buildings. Thus, in residential or commercial
buildings, the pipes on terraces should be connected not to the BMC drains but to
a recharge well or recharge pit. This process is termed recharging the groundwater.
The same bore well or tube well then can be used for pumping out the groundwater.
Key words : Aquifer, Recharging, Catchments Area, Average annual rainfall.
1.
INTRODUCTION
The rapid development in science and
technology in the world has brought the countries
closer to each other and the world has become a
global village. Vasudeiva Kutumbakam (The world
the one family) is the need of the day. The integrated
world is the new concept which Acharya Vinobaji
Bhave had given in his slogan of Jay Jagat long
back in the same context.
However as we see our country progressing in
the global market there is increase in the suicides
of Indian farmers every year. Today, it is the
responsibility of engineers in all the disciplines to
come together to provide them with possible
alternatives to cope up with the problems of
environmental imbalances and scarcity of proper
knowledge to adjust with the weather uncertainties.
On the other side, there are urban cities which
are over-flooded with the population and finding the
difficulties like inadequate supply of municipal water.
Even though Bombay Municipal Corporation is in
denial of a water crisis, since October 2002 it has
made it mandatory for all new constructions covering
2.
*Asst.Professor **Sr.Lecturer
Fr. Agnel Technical Education Complex, Sector 9A, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400703.
E-mail: sandiphk@rediffmail.com, rbm59@rediffmail.com
45
3.
48
Plan C : The third plan is most assured way of
getting the rain water collected from the roof tops.
This includes collecting the water from the rooftops
into underground tanks or open wells designed
according to rooftop area and the average annual
rain fall.
This plan has limitations of high initial
investment cost of constructing tanks of Rs.1000/per m 3 and regular maintenance of the filters.
However this is the most ensured way of getting
the rainwater during the no monsoon season. With
proper filtration system incorporated we can even
use rainwater stored in these tanks for drinking
purpose.
5.1 PLAN A:
Total Catchments area of = 530 + 320 = 850 m2
Boys Hostel and BalBhavan
Average annual rainfall
= 2.25 m
in Navi-Mumbai
Total quantity of Harvestable Water = 850 X 2.25
= 1912.5m3
Considering 15% losses
= 1912.5 X 0.85
= 1625.625 m3
5.2 PLAN C:
Total catchments area
= 2500 sq. m.
Average annual rainfall
= 2.25 m
in Navi-Mumbai
Total quantity of Harvestable = 2500 x 2.25
= 5,625 m3
Water
Considering 15% losses = 5625 x 0.85
= 4,781.25 m3
Total quantity of water available = 47, 81,250 L
(For four months)
(By considering 50 Rainy days)
Quantity of Harvestable water
5.3 PLAN B :
We are trying to implement this plan by first
doing hydro geological investigation and estimating
the rough estimate of construction of gravel pack
ring well cum bore well. This is necessary to be
carried out in order to identify points or locations
for ground water development. As per the quotation
= 95,625 L / Day
UNIT
NO.
PARTICULAR ITEM
RATE / UNIT
TOTAL QNTY.
TOTAL COST
PVC PIPES
DIA.100mm
155
28.22
4374.1
DIA.120mm
165
56.6
9339
DIA.140mm
175
29.92
5236
DIA.150mm
180
15.9
2862
DIA.160mm
185
18.5
34225
II
DEVAS FILTER
600
4200
III
ELBOWS 45 ANGLE
100
700
EXACUVATION
m3
150
17.89
2683.5
P.C.C.
m3
15000
1.19
1785
BRICK WORK
m3
1400
7.45
10430
IV
TOTAL RATE :
53
55,469.10/-
6.
54
7.
8. REFERENCES
Anil Agarwal, Available from: http://
www.rainwaterharvesting.org Accessed: 2006-0723
Sunita Narain & Rahul Ranade (2003). A Water
Harvesting Manual, Centre For Science And
Environment, New Delhi
M. Jacob, (2005), Technical Report for rainwater
harvesting, Navi Mumbai
Gopal Chandorkar (2005). Parjanya Mapan va
Purva Anuman, Proceedings of Traditional Wisdom
in Water Management, pp. 96-101, A National
Conference at Nasik, October 2005, The Indian
Council for Water & Culture, Aurangabad
55
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
INTRODUCTION
It is estimated that 80% of all diseases and over
1/3 rd of deaths are caused by consumption of
contaminated water and on an average as much as
1/10th of each persons productive time is sacrificed
to water related diseases. India supports 1/6th of the
worlds population on 1/50th of worlds land with
meager 1/25th of the worlds water resources. Due
to the indiscriminate discharge of untreated sewage
and industrial effluents into natural water bodies, the
quality of surface water as well as ground water is
deteriorating in India. Deteriorating water quality has
*Former Vice-President, Indian Water Resources Society, Former Convenor of Programmes, Water Management
Forum, Convenor, Coordination Committee, Water Related National Professional Societies, Chief Engineer,
Narmada Tapi Basin Organisation, Central Water commission, Sector 10 A, Gandhinagar (Gujrat) 382043
E-mail - goelrscwc@yahoo.com
**Vice-President, Indian Water Resources Society, Former Chairman, Central Water Commission, Former Chairman,
Board of Governors, Water Management Forum, Co-chairman, Coordination Committee, Water Related National
Professional Societies, 128, Manekbaug Society, Ambawadi,Ahmedabad38 00 52 E-mail - vbpatel@multimantech.com
56
WASTEWATER GENERATION
Between years 2000 and 2050 freshwater
withdrawals by urban areas will rise from an
estimated minimum of about 15 BCM to a projected
maximum of about 60 BCM. About 80 percent will
be returned as polluted wastewater to nearby surface
water bodies. This will result in massive pollution of
fresh surface water resources. A large part of the
sewage in most of the municipalities is still flowing
into the aquatic environment without any treatment,
thereby increasing the oxygen demand in shrinking
water bodies and increasing the bacterial load of
water, the main cause of water borne diseases.
Discharge of untreated domestic waste water is
predominant source of pollution of aquatic resources
in India. Urban centers contribute more than 25%
of the sewage generation in the country. The smaller
towns and rural areas do not contribute significant
amounts of sewage due to low per capita water
supply. Waste water generated in these areas
normally percolates in the soil or evaporates. Owing
to the indiscriminate discharge of untreated sewage
and industrial effluents into natural water bodies, the
quality of surface water as well as ground water is
deteriorating. A result of this is that the principal
drinking water supply sources of cities and towns
are becoming polluted of which is increasing
considerably the cost of water treatment.
Even in the mega cities namely Mumbai,
Calcutta, Delhi and Chennai; wherein about two third
of the total wastewater of 23 metro cities is
generated, the waste management is highly
unsatisfactory despite the huge infrastructure and
paraphernalia due to many socio-political and
managerial problems. Of the wastewater generated
in Class I cities, 12 metropolitan cities accounted for
about 65 percent. Mumbai and Delhi generated more
wastewater than that generated in all the Class II
cities together. About 80% of about 20% collected
WATER CONSERVATION
Water Conservation has three broad
connotations; maximum storage of rainwater,
economical and optimal use including prevention of
wastage/ leakage and multiple use Reuse and
Recycling. In urban water supply almost 30 to 40%
of the water is wasted through the distribution
system. In Industrial sector also, there is a scope of
economy in use of water. Public awareness should
be generated through a massive campaign of
communication through all available media and by
the utility management itself setting an example for
conservation. All urban dwellers should be made
aware of the source from which water is being
brought to the city and from which additional water
will have to be brought in the future. They should
be aware of the costs involved, not only in financial
57
Industry
Average Volume of
Wasteland per Unit
of Product
Possible
Percent
Reuse
Thermal Power
Plant
Pulp & Paper
155 kl./hr/MW
98
250 kl./tonne
50
40
Pharmaceutical
4.5 kl./tonne
40
Distillery
15 lit/lit of alcohol
25
Textile
15
Tannery
12
ROLE
OF
COMMUNITIES
AND
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
It is essential that environmental aspects and
the process of planning and operation of water
resources projects be fairly understood by the experts
of different disciplines. Participation of people is a
must in the management of water. People have to
be made an integral part of the water management
system. The community is to be made not only water
conscious, but also to be integrated to participate in
the planning and management of such projects and
pollution prevention programmes. It is unfortunate
that a smear campaign has been launched during
last two decades against hydropower and water
resources projects by exaggerating the likely or
assumed adverse environmental impacts and by
suppressing their need and tremendous benefits.
Knowledge about the changes required in
cropping patterns and agronomic practices also must
be communicated to farmers to sensitise them about
the constraints of water supply and motivate them
to use it carefully and efficiently. Professional
62
CONCLUSION
India supports 1/6th of the worlds population
on 1/50th of worlds land with meager 1/25th of the
worlds water resources. Further, 80% of all diseases
and over 1/3rd of deaths are caused by consumption
of contaminated water and on an average as much
63
64
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
Introduction
India is facing a huge water crisis today. There
is an enormous unmet demand for water. Even as
clean water sources are being viciously attacked by
pollution and over exploitation, hardly any river or
groundwater aquifer near a city escapes the perils
of pollution today. While agricultural lands go thirsty,
many thousands of villages find it difficult to get clean
drinking water. The dispute over tap waters heard
in the history in olden days and in the villages in
present times has been transferred to urban areas
too. The issue of water-crisis is more acute than the
petrol for which largely the human beings are
responsible.
There has been growing reliance on the use of
surface and groundwater, while the earlier reliance
on rain water and flood water has been declined,
even though rain water and flood water are available
in much greater abundance than river water or
groundwater. It is reported that the money pumped
in for rural drinking water supply and methods used
were unsustainable. Corruption, lack of peoples
interests in maintaining government schemes, land
degradation leading to heavy runoff, heavy
groundwater exploitation leading to lowering of
groundwater tables, neglect of traditional water
harvesting system and growing pollution are all added
Professor of Environmental Engineering and Principal of Rizvi College of Engg., Bandra (W), Mumbai 50
65
Fig. 1.1
Bleaching powder is applied to prevent
contamination and maintain the quality of stored
water. Airtight covers on storage tank protect the
water from sunlight and contamination. Initial
investment cost of the structure is little high.
Operating cost consists of cleaning expenses once
in a year and periodic expenses of bleaching powder
which would cost around only Rs. 1000/- per year.
Considering the life span of the structure of 20 years
and the relief it brings, this method is the most
reliable.
Fig. 1.2
66
Fig. 1.3
A trench of 2x 8 (depth) is prepared at a corner
with pitching of stones on one side and a lining of
PVC sheet. The trench is filled up with the earth for
rest of the year. In monsoon, the trench is filled up
with water before it starts spreading around. Water
is raised with this technique.
Fig. 1.4
67
Fig. 1.5
68
Conclusion
The scarcity of water has gained global
attention. The developing countries due to lack of
expertise, funds, national policies, public awareness
can not do much about this complicated problem.
The efforts are being taken by the NGOs and other
organizations from the micro level. The municipal
offices, town planners of the urban sectors are
changing their outlook positively towards meeting
water scarcity of the future generations. That is a
useful step!
References
(1) NGOs from Sangli (Maharashtra) , Ref. No. 02332322412
(2) Making water everybodys business, Practice and
Policy of water harvesting Edited by Anil Agarwal, Sunita
Narain and Indira Khurana CSE publication.
69
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
Abstract
Since water harvesting depends on natural rainfall, it is no more reliable than the
weather. Without adequate storage facilities the system will fail in draught years. In locations
with less average annual rainfall, water harvesting will probably never be economically
feasible. Lack of rainfall data in many areas makes it very difficult to properly design a
water harvesting system.
Poorly designed and managed water harvesting systems can cause soil erosion, soil
instability, and local flooding. All catchments require a certain amount of maintenance to
keep them performing properly which may include occasional patches, weed control, cleaning
trash from screens, seal coats, or complete reshaping.
A water harvesting system must withstand weathering and some foot traffic. Some
may require fences. Contamination of the water must be constantly considered. Discolored
or contaminated water will require treatment before it can be used for human consumption.
To day no one water harvesting method or material has proven suitable for all areas,
soils, and climatic conditions. Another problem is the variability in the quality of some
materials, even though they may meet existing manufacturing specifications. This has been
particularly true for artificial rubber sheeting, since some batches have proven very effective
and durable, whereas others, with the same specification, have failed in a short time.
Design of water harvesting system has received less attention than methods or
treatments for increasing runoff from the soil surface. Most design procedures are limited
in application because of constraints mentioned in the above paragraphs.
This paper reviews all the above constraints in implementation of water harvesting
system with examples.
Ancient History
Although the term water harvesting is
relatively new, the practice is ancient. Shanan,
Evenari, and Tadmor excavated runoff farms that
were used over 3,000 yrs ago for several centuries
in what is now the Negev Desert of Israel. This area
was intensively cultivated by an irrigation system
which collected the meager rainfall by clearing large
hillside areas of rocks, smoothing the soil, and
concentrating the runoff by a system of contour
Introduction
The origin of the term water harvesting is
not known, but it was probably first used by Geddes
of the University of Sidney. He defined water
harvesting as the collection and storage of any farm
waters, either runoff or creek flow, for irrigation
use. Several modifications of the definition have
broadened the term to mean the process of
collecting natural precipitation from prepared
watersheds for beneficial use.
*Associate Professor in Civil Engineering, Swami Ramananda Tirtha Institute of Science & Technology,
Nalgonda, Andhra Pradesh. E-mail:arunakar_reddy2001@yahoo.com
70
Recent Development
Collection and storage of runoff from roofs of
houses is a more recent practice that is still used in
some regions of the world. Some of the first
catchments build specifically to collect water were
roof like structures built in Australia in the early
1930s using galvanized sheet iron on a wooden
frame. Sheet metal was also used for other
catchments built in Australia at about the same time,
but the metal sections were placed directly on the
soil surface and anchored with spikes.
The development of the most widely used type
of catchment was reported by the Public Works
Department of Western Australia in 1956. These
catchments were called roaded catchments
because the soil was graded into a series of parallel
roadways or gently sloping ridges that drained into
the ditches separating them. These ditches carried
the collected water to a storage reservoir by way of
a collection ditch which ran perpendicular to the
roadways. Several thousand acres of these
catchments have been installed in the relatively
uniform topography of Western Australia where soils
often contain significant clay layers which are
exposed and compacted and provide a rather low
infiltrating surface. Most of these catchments have
been used to provide farm water supplies, although
some are used for municipal water supplies.
In the United States water harvesting began
during the 1940s and early 1950s when several
small sheet steel and concrete catchments were built
to provide drinking water for livestock and wildlife.
Of considerably more impact was the pioneering
work of Lauritzen in the 1950s in which plastic and
artificial rubber membranes were evaluated for
constructing catchments and reservoirs. This work
rainfall.
Water harvesting will never be used in some
areas because other water sources are more
economical, or because the annual precipitation is
very low. However, water harvesting can often mean
the difference between life and death, thus making
its economic aspects of minor importance.
Methods of Harvesting
A wide variety of methods and materials have
been used to increase precipitation runoff into
storage facilities. Some materials, like concrete and
sheet metal, can be used in almost any situation.
However, the most economical system for a
particular site can be determined by evaluating
several factors, like soil type and depth, accessibility
to equipment, climatic variables, vegetation, labour
and material costs, and availability of treatment
products. Whatever treatment or method is used,
some maintenance will be required to insure
optimum performance.
For discussion, the methods used to increase
runoff can be divided into four general categories:
vegetation management, land alteration, chemical
treatments, and soil covers.
Vegetation Management : A summary of studies
conducted throughout the world indicates that runoff
can be increased by vegetation management from
areas with precipitation in excess of 280 mm
annually. However, the conversion efficiency for
producing extra water increases as rainfall increases,
at least up to 860 mm/yr; therefore, conversions at
lower rainfall values may not be economical.
Potential water yield increases depend upon the
percent of total precipitation occurring as snowfall,
the type, depth, and slope of the watershed soil, and
the varieties of vegetation with their associated
evapotranspiration rates, which can be managed
considering all other constraints. Besides increasing
water yield, vegetation management on watersheds
can improve wildlife habitat, forage production, and
recreation activity.
on the soil and the oil used. Rawitz and Hillel found
that retreatment each 2 years improved runoff yield
above initial treatment values.
Soil Covers. Soil covers are treatments that
can generally be applied to a wide range of soil types,
since they only use the soil as a supporting structure
and do not depend on its properties to provide water
repellency.
Asphalt pavements for water harvesting were
constructed by spraying asphalt compounds on
nonswelling soils. Another, more durable type of
asphalt catchment was made by placing a layer of
fiberglass or polypropylene matting on the surface
and spraying it with asphalt. A seal coat of asphalt
and a protective cover of special paint produced a
very durable and efficient catchment. The matting
serves as a reinforcing fabric, and the asphalt as a
water-proofing agent. The paint extends the period
between maintenance retreatments by protecting the
asphalt from sunlight, and reduces runoff water
discoloration. This type of catchment can be
installed over almost any soil and requires only
minimum surface preparation.
Thin plastic films have been used as ground
covers, but they were easily destroyed by wind and
deteriorated rapidly under exposure to solar
radiation. Cluff developed a unique method of
utilizing plastics relatively low cost and high waterproofing characteristics. He developed equipment
to install plastic film and cover it with a layer of
small gravel. The gravel protects the plastic against
both wind and weathering damage; however, the
gravel also reduces the runoff efficiency by retaining
part of the water which is then lost to evaporation.
These catchments are useful where gravel is
available and a large portion of the annual rainfall
occurs as storms larger than 2.5 mm. A more recent
catchment treatment developed by Cluff is
constructed by spraying soil with a tack of asphalt,
followed immediately by a 4-mail layer of
polyethylene plastic. After the plastic is coated with
an additional asphalt layer, rock chips are added as
a top cover. This catchment can be applied to a wide
range of soil types and yields about 95% of the
rainfall runoff. A similar catchment using standard
roofing paper and procedures, but applied to the soil
surface, has remained in good condition after 6 yrs
and yields about 80% runoff.
Artificial rubber sheeting has probably been
73
Summary
Water harvesting is an ancient art used by
farmers in the Negev Desert of Israel over 3,000 yrs
ago where they cleared hillsides to increase rainfallrunoff and directed the water to cultivated fields in
the valleys. This practice was then essentially
abandoned until the early 1930s, except for
collecting rainfall from rooftops in some areas.
Although revival of water harvesting techniques
began in the early 1930s, most activity in both
construction and research did not begin until the late
1950s. even this research effort and the development
of new materials have not yet produced widespread
use of water harvesting methods to provide water
supplies, although there is still a potential for
economically collecting water in many areas of the
world.
The particular water harvesting method used
to collect precipitation depends on several factors,
including soil type and depth, vegetative cover,
surface roughness and slope, climatic factors, land,
labour, and material costs, water use rate and
distribution, water quality desired, and availability
of materials. All of the commonly used methods fall
into one of four categories vegetation
management, land alteration, chemical or physical
soil treatments, or soil covers.
References
Cluff, C. B., Low-Cost Evaporation Control
to Save Precious Stock Water, Arizona Farmer
Ranchman, Vol. 51, No. 7, July 1972.
77
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
a) Storage Tanks :
for harvesting the roof top rain water, the
storage tanks may be used.
these tanks may be constructed on the surface
as well as under ground by utilizing local material.
the size of tank depends upon availability of
runoff & water demand.
after proper chlorination, the stored water may
be used for drinking purpose.
Abandoned Dugwells
Hand Pumps
Recharge Wells
Recharge Shafts
Lateral Shafts With Borewells
b)
Recharge Pits
recharge pits are constructed for recharging
the shallow aquifers.
these are constructed 1 to 2 m. wide and 2 to 3
m. deep which are back filled with boulders, gravels
& coarse sand.
the size of filter material is generally taken as
below:
coarse sand : 1.5 - 2 mm
gravels
: 5 - 10 mm
boulders
: 5 - 20 cm
the filter material should be filled in graded
form. boulders at the bottom, gravels in between
& coarse sand at the top so that the silt content that
will come with runoff will
be deposited on
the top of the coarse sand layer and can easily be
removed.
if clay layer encountered at shallow depth, it
should be punctured with auger hole and that auger
hole should be refilled with fine gravel of 3 to 6 mm
size.
c)
Trenches
these are constructed when the permeable
strata is available at shallow depths.
trench may be 0.5 to 1 m. wide, 1 to 1.5 m.
deep and 10 to 20 m. long depending upon
availability of water.
these are back filled with filter materials. in
case of clay layer encountered at shallow
depth,
the number of auger holes may be constructed
& back filled with fine gravels.
e)
recharge wells
recharge wells of 100 to 300 mm. diameter
are generally constructed for recharging the
deeper aquifers and roof top rain water is diverted
to recharge well for recharge to ground water. The
runoff water may be passed through filter media to
avoid choking of recharge wells.
Assessment Of Runoff
The runoff should be assessed accurately for
designing the recharge structure and may be
assessed by following formula.
Runoff = Catchment area * Runoff
Coefficient * Rainfall
Runoff Coefficients
Runoff coefficient plays an important role in
assessing the runoff availability and it depends upon
catchment characteristics. General values are
tabulated below which may be utilised for assessing
the runoff availability.
Type of catchment
Runoff coefficient
Roof top
0.75 - 0.95
Paved area
0.50 - 0.85
Bare ground
0.10 - 0.20
Green area
0.05 - 0.10
Design Considerations
Three most important components, which
need to be evaluated for designing the rainwater
harvesting structure, are:
1. Hydrogeology of the area including nature and
81
References :
a) Nagrajan R. : Water ; Conservation, Use and
Management for Semi-arid Region: Capital
Publishing Company;2006.
b) Athavale, R.N. Water harvesting and
sustainable supply in India, Centre for
Environmental Education and Rawat Publications;
2003
c) Natarajan, P.M., & Kallolikar S. Rain Water
Harvesting New Approaches For Sustainable
Water Resources Development, Sarma Sanitorium
Press; 2004
d) http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/urban/
Howtoharvest.htm
e) h t t p : / / a k a s h - g a n g a - r w h . c o m / RW H /
WaterHarvesting.html
f) http://www.gdrc.org/uem/water/rainwater/
introduction.html
Todd, D.K. (1980). Groundwater Hydrology.
Second edition., John Wiley & Sons, New York.
8.0 Conclusions :
Thus, water has been harvested in India since
antiquity. Evidence of this tradition can be found in
ancient texts, inscriptions, local traditions and
archaeological remains. The Puranas, Mahabharata,
Ramayana and various Vedic. Buddhist and Jain
texts contain several references to canals. tanks,
embankments and wells.
Overexploitation of groundwater resources is
increasingly being recognized as a major problem.
Despite being one of the wettest countries of the
world, Indias growing water shortage has reached
alarming proportions. Over the last few centuries, a
range of techniques to harvest every possible form
of water has been developed. Technically speaking,
water harvesting means capturing the rain where it
falls, or capturing the run-off in ones own village or
town. Thus, the role of Institution of Engineers
(India), Nagpur Local Centre is worthy in this
direction.
82
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
**Pradeep Bhalge
Abstract
Water has been harvested in India since antiquity. Roof top water harvesting
techniques are not new for Indians. Numerous documentary and filed evidences about
the water harvesting techniques used by the ancestors exist in India. For general,
Maharashtra receives a good amount of annual rainfall. But the Government has to
supply drinking water by the water tankers to numerous villages and wadies. Many of
the wadies or tandas are situated in remote places. In such cases drinking water cannot
be supplied to the thirsty people by tankers or by any other means. The water supplied
by the Tankers may not be either pure or sufficient. There is a need to think; Is it
necessary to supply the drinking water by Tankers? The answer is not in all the
cases. Roof top rainwater is the best solution to solve all the problems discussed above.
This paper will illustrate the drinking water needs, computation of the quantity of the
annual rain water from the roof top, methods and type of storages in practice, care to
be taken to maintain the purity of the rain water harvested, and the merits and demerits.
Introduction
India receives good amount of rainfall. But
the rainfall is highly erratic in nature. It is not evenly
distributed over the entire area and over the period.
India have distinct rainy season. In most part of the
country the annual rainy days varies from 10 to 45.
As soon as the rains are over, water scarcity starts.
The ancestors realize that, harvesting the water in
rainy season will be use full in rest period of the
year. They have developed varies techniques to
harvest the water because they knew that without
harvesting the water life is difficult to survive. There
are evidences that, during Harappan period, there
was very good system of water management as
could be seen in the latest excavation at Dholavira
in Kachch. The people use to manage water
resources considering it as part of the nature, which
is essential for their survival. This could be seen
from the rainwater harvesting structures in the low
rainfall areas of Rajasthan, harvesting springs in
hilly areas and mountainous region and percolation
KUND OF RAJASTHAN
Bamboo Method :
In Meghalaya, an ingenious system of tapping
of stream and spring water by using bamboo pipes
to irrigate plantations is widely prevalent. About
18-20 liters of water entering the bamboo pipe
system per minute gets transported over several
hundred meters. The tribal farmers of Khasi and
Jaintia hills use the 200-year-old system. The
bamboo drip irrigation system is normally used to
irrigate the betel leaf or black pepper crops. Bamboo
pipes are used to divert perennial springs on the
hilltops to the lower reaches by gravity. The channel
sections, made of bamboo, divert and convey water
to the plot site where it is distributed without leakage
into branches, again made and laid out with different
forms of bamboo pipes. Manipulating the intake
Maximum
in liters
Minimum
in liters
Latrine and
washing mouth
Bath
Washing cloths
Food preparation
and drinking
Other purpose
Total
25
05
25
25
10
10
10
05
10
95
05
35
Comparison of tankers expenditure with the construction cost of water storage tank
86
Filtration
Before the water enters the down water pipes
Filtration arrangements is must. This can be archived
with following simple methods.
Water yield available in liters from the annual rainfall, roof top area
Annual Rainfall in mm ..................
(m)
87
to the one third area of the roof top and the depth of
the tank equal to three times the average annual
rainfall in meter or three meter whichever is less.
For example there are three rooms in a house of
size 3m x 3m. The total roof area will be 3no x3m x
3m i.e. 27 square meter. Let the house is lies in the
average annual rainfall of 700 mm (0.7meter). Then
for storing the harvested roof top water construct a
under ground tank having the bottom area equal to
one third the roof area i.e. 27/3=9 square meter.
Keep the depth of the tank equal to 3 times the
average annual rainfall i.e. 0.7m x 3=2.1 meter. Thus
the storage capacity of the tank will be 3 x3 x 2.1
=18.9 cubic meter i.e. 18900 liters. And this much
water will be sufficient for three most dry summer
month to a family of five members. And if used very
precisely for drinking and cooking purpose then this
much water will be sufficient for more than six
Storage
The harvested rain shall be stored in a storage
tank. The tank can be built with locally available
materials and traditional construction techniques.
The storage tank can be constructed underground,
above ground or partially above ground as shown
in the following figures. Use the ground water till
it is available. Use the water stored in the tanks in
dry months.
Depending on the amount of rainwater that needs
to be harvested and the proposed end use of the
harvested rainwaters, an appropriate storage or
recharge system is designed. The simple thumb rule
for that is build a storage tank of bottom area equal
88
Maintenance
Water harvesting systems require occasional
maintenance, but this can be easily accomplished.
Debris and leaves should be filtered before storing
the water by placing screens over gutters. Debris
screens over gutters should be cleaned periodically
and storage tanks should be drained and cleaned
regularly. Water kept in tanks should be covered to
minimize algae growth and eliminate the potential
for any mosquito breeding.
Ground water recharge-Simple Methods
The water in the premises can be harvested to
recharge the ground water. The recharging will
certainly help to increase the ground water storage.
The design and the location of these recharge
systems is site specific and needs to be evolved as
per the requirements.
When the rainwater falls on the ground, some of it
seeps into the soil but the surplus adversely flows
out as a stream or as run-off. The top soil however,
can hold only a fraction of water that falls on it and
the rest gradually percolates down, depending on
the type of the soil and joins the aquifers that are
groundwater-bearing formation Artificial recharge
is a process of augmenting the underground water
table by artificial infiltration of rain water and
surface run-off.
Techniques of Rain water Harvesting.
Merits
References
Books
1. Pani Sarvansathi, Pradeep Bhalge
2. Aaj bhee khare hai talab, Anupam Misra
3. Bharatiya Jal Sanskriti Sawarup Ani Vyapti,
Dr. R.S.Morawanchikar
4. Param vaibhavacha tappa ala, Prof.
R.M.Pandav
Demerits
Roof top rain water harvesting system can not
supply water if there is no rain fall over the
catchments or the water is not stored in the storage
tank, in the preceding rainy season.
90
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
1. INTRODUCTION
Ground water is basically a renewable
resource, but the volume of water actually stored
may vary greatly from place to place depending on
physiography, climate, hydrogeology and rate of
ground water withdrawal used for various purposes.
The ground water development has to be optimised
considering the demand and supply factors. Under
utilization of available resources is not desirable as
it deprives the economic development of the human
beings. On the other hand overexploitation of
ground water leads to depletions of water resources
and scarcity in future. Available ground water
resources and potential for its augmentation needs
to be assessed scientifically and understood
holistically for planning the water resources
management. This study has been done for Yavatmal
district on scientific lines as follows.
3. HYDRO-GEOLOGICAL SETUP
3.1 Physiography and Climate
Physiographically the area is mostly
undulatory dissected plateau with isolated hills
excluding the eastern part of the district, which is
plain. The district is well drained by the rivers
Penganga, Wardha and their tributaries namely Pus,
Bembla, Aran, Arunavati, Waghadi, Khuni,
Vaidharbha and Nirguda.
The climate of the district is characterized
by hot summer and general dryness except during
2. LOCATION
The Yavatmal district lies between 19026
N to 20042 N Latitude and between 77018 E to
* Scientist B, **Scientist D 2Central Ground Water Board, Central Region, Civil lines, Nagpur 440001
For correspondence (email: Pandith_m@rediffmail.com or sunilkumar_jain@ rediffmail.com)
91
3.2 Geology
Archaean rocks from the basement and are
covered by Penganga and Vindhyan group of rocks.
The Gondwana group of rocks overlays these rocks.
Deccan trap is spread all over the area. Finally the
action of atmosphere eroded the Deccan traps in
parts, exposing the other older formations at surface.
The thickness of these formations therefore varies
from place to place and thus hydrogeology of the
area is influenced accordingly (Deshmukh, 1994).
The contact between Penganga Group of
rocks and Deccan traps is marked by unconformity.
The contact between Gondwana and Deccan trap is
mostly undulatory. The eastern part of the district
is traversed by numerous faults; therefore rocks of
different groups are met at different altitude in the
area owing to differential subsidence or upheaval
events. The lithological geometry of the phreatic
aquifers is generated exclusively based on the
exploratory drilling at 51 wells is given in Table 1
and plotted in Fig 2.
3.3 Hydrogeology
The Deccan traps are the predominant water
bearing formations with variations in hydro
geological properties over horizontal and vertical
space. It is followed by Gondwana formations
having sandstone and shales sequence. The
Penganga and Quaternary alluvium aquifers are
spread in limited areas but have significant role
wherever they are found. Archaean aquifers are
limited and have less significance in the area.
7.
STORAGE
POTENTIAL
OF
UNSATURATED PHREATIC AQUIFERS
The volume of water for recharging the
unsaturated (dry) zone of phreatic aquifers is
estimated by multiplying the tahsilwise area with
the available unsaturated thickness and the average
specific yield of the particular strata. Thus, the total
storage potential of phreatic unsaturated aquifer
varies from 9.04 MCM in Digras & Arni tahsils to
142.56 MCM in Wani tahsil. The total potential of
ground water resources augmented through artificial
recharge is estimated in the district is 951.61 MCM.
The tahsilwise details of estimated sub surface
storage potential of phreatic aquifers through
artificial recharge to ground water are given Table
4.
8. GROUND WATER AVAILABILITY VIS A
VIS AUGMENTATION POTENTIAL
The ground water resources of the district
are 1278.34 MCM and possibility of further ground
water augmentation is 951.61 MCM or the actual
non-commuted surplus runoff. Thus, the overall
ground water resources can be made available is
2230 MCM (Table 4) depending up on the available
surplus water. However, there are variations in the
tahsilwise scenario of ground water availability and
augmentation potential.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The additional storage potential of the
phreatic aquifers may be harnessed appropriately
93
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Shri Dinesh Prakash,
Regional Director CGWB; CR, Nagpur for
providing necessary guidelines and valuable
suggestions in carrying out the studies. Auther
expresses their sincere thanks to Shri P.K.Parchure,
Sc D for his constructive comments valuable
94
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
95
Table 1: Lithology of shallow aquifers based on the results of exploratory drilling in Yavatmal district
contd....
96
97
TS=Tope Soil, C=Clay, VB=Vesicular Basalt, WVB= Weathered Vesicular Basalt, FVB= Fractured Vesicular Basalt,
WFVB= Weathered Fractured Vesicular Basalt, MB= Massive Basalt, WMB= Weathered Massive Basalt,
FMB=Fractured Massive Basalt, WFMB= Weathered Fractured Massive Basalt, SS=Sandstone, SHS= Shale &
Sandstone
Table 1: Lithology of shallow aquifers based on the results of exploratory drilling in Yavatmal district
Table 2: Ground water resources of the district as on March 2005 (After GEC-97)
98
99
Table 3: Summarized results of the lithology, depth to water level of the phreatic aquifers in the area
100
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
period as increase productivity of rainfed agro ecoregions (Venkateswarlu, 1981). Inspite of water
harvesting on watershed, an appropriate technique
to conserve soil moisture through management of
run-off water during scanty rainfall and active
growth period of cotton has been successfully
developed for conventional hybrids at CICR,
Nagpur. The efforts have been made for
maximization of transgenic Bt cotton production
through run-off water management during scanty
rainfall under rainfed conditions.
INTRODUCTION
Bt cotton is available in India only in the form
of hirsutum hybrids and now occupying an area of
33% to the total area of cotton while in Maharashtra
it is about 80% area in Bt cotton. Production in the
rainfed land is a very difficult task due to uncertainty
and uneven distribution of rainfall. Hybrid cotton is
a long duration crop requires more water and
nutrients as compared to soybean or sorghum. It also
has capacity to tolerant excess water conditions for
4-5 days or dry conditions for 20 to 25 days. Higher
production of cotton can be achieved at assured
rainfall of 650 to 700 mm with proper distribution
of rainfall during growing season. Rain water
harvesting through tanks, ponds and reservoirs,
though an age old practice but use of harvested rain
water for supplementary irrigation in the stress
102
CONCLUSION
Therefore, to make this technique a viable and
successful one in rainfed Agro-ecoregions, ridges
and furrows are to be made across the slope and
when rainfall recedes and demand of water is more
for development of bolls in cotton. The maximum
conservation of run-off of scanty rainwater and its
prudent utilization practice is worth for
maximization of cotton production under rainfed
condition.
REFERENCE :
Venkateshwarlu J. (1981). Maximization of crop
production in dry lands. J. Soil Cons. 9: 124-40.
Rainfall
Year-2002
32
(Jun-3, Jul-3, Aug-19, Sept-7)
330 C
(June- 36, Jul -34, Aug- 30, Sept- 32)
320 C
13
340C
25 Jun to 15 Sept
661
16 Sept to 30 Sept
1 Oct to 15 Oct
Year-2005
25 Jun to 15 Sept
437
33
340C
(Jun-38, Jul-30, Aug-31,Sept-31)
16 Sept to 30 Sept
315
16
320C
1 Oct to 15 Oct
320C
F1:90:45:45
F2-100:60:80
Flat Bed
Ridge &
furrows
Flat Bed
Ridge &
furrows
Flat Bed
Ridge &
furrows
Bt NCS 138
17.28
22.06
15.95
21.62
16.6
23.31
Bt NCS 913
15.99
21.72
15.91
20.55
16.06
20.88
Non Bt (Bunny)
9.34
12.06
9.03
12.08
9.65
12
103
Shallow soil
period
Medium soil
Flat bed
Ridg.& Furr.
Flat bed
Ridg.& Furr.
80 DAS
20
24.5
22
27
95 DAS
16
20
20
24.5
110 DAS
10.5
12.5
11
13.5
80 DAS
20
24
22
26
95 DAS
15
18.5
19.5
24
110 DAS
9.5
12
10.5
11.5
At 125% RDF
NCS 138
NCS 913
Bunny non-Bt
30
26.52
25
24.94
24 .69
24.42
24.3
22.88
2 1. 8 6
2 1. 5 2
2 1. 9 6
20.8
20
15
14 . 9 6
14 . 0 8
13 . 9 5
13 . 7 1
12 . 4 3
10
0
90x30
90x45
90x60
100:60:80
150:80:100
Spacing x Fertilizer
104
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
*FIE (India), ME (PH) (Committee Member, Env. Engg. divisionI.E (India), Orisssa state centre Bhubaneswar)
Address : Plot no-759, Jayadev Vihar, Bhubaneswar (Orissa)
105
Losses in BCM
Evaporation
700
Flow on ground 700
Flow to sea
1500
2000
0.1
1998
2050 (prob.)
Year
1950
0.28
1947
0.07
2005
2025 (prob.)
2.2
1.6
0.5
Year
Availability of land ha/capita
Domestic
Manufacturing
Power
Total
1997-98
560
30
30
629
2020 BAU
640
56
57
28
781
2020 BCS
602
51
57
27
737
1050 million
1,100mm
304 million hectares
100 litres/day/person
Annual water
requirements
Land requirement
% of Indias land
100%
1.15%
50%
2.30%
Issues : A number of issues may affect the widespread adoption of RWH systems in India. Such as:
Economics and Technology Research and design needs to improve the cost-effectiveness of RWH, like:
Economically optimizing the size of system components
Minimizing the quantity or quality of materials needed to create any given volume of water storage.
Developing new designs for tanks, guttering and catchments
Developing measuring instruments to assist RWH system management
Establishing the environmental and economic benefits of reducing extraction of domestic water from
distant point sources.
Water Quality and Health : the impact of RWH on health such as :
The likely causes of low RW quality (physical, chemical, biological) and assessing its impact on health
106
Strategies
Rainwater harvesting
Comprehensive water policy reform and
demand management
Secure water rights
User management of irrigation systems.
Reformed price incentives
Appropriate technology
Environment protection
Tradable water rights
International co-operation
Need and Advantages of RWH : The need and
advantages of RWH are as enumerated below
Choice between Storage and Artificial
Recharge of Rain Water (Fig. 2, 3 & 4) The
decision whether to store or recharge water depends
on the rainfall pattern of a particular region. For
example, in places like Kerala and Mizoram, rain
falls throughout the year, barring a few dry periods.
In such places, one can depend on a small domesticsized water tank for storing rainwater, since the
period between two spells of rain is short. On the
other hand, in dry areas like Delhi, Rajasthan and
Gujarat, the total annual rainfall occurs only during 3
to 4 months of monsoon. The water collected during
the monsoon has to be stored throughout the year;
which means that huge volumes of storage
containers would have to be provided. In Delhi, it is
107
108
Note : Calculation based on the assumption that average village population in different meteorological
sub-divisions is the same as that of the state.
Source : India Meterological Department for normal rainfall data and based on Census of India data for
1981, 1991 & 2001
International Initiatives :
In U.S. RWH practice in individual and small groups of Texas University through 3 cascade ponds to
support aquatic life for biology laboratory fed by harvested rain water.
In Mexico due to artificial recharge of aquifer 50% reduction cost of pumping of ground water achieved.
In South Africa in 25 million hector one non-native weed consumed almost 7% more of countrys run
109
Major initiatives(India) :
Recommending schemes which will ensure
availability of minimum 25 kiloliters of water per year
for each citizen in the country.
Water harvesting must be made mandatory for
the buildings. Necessary legal provisions may be
made in this regard.
Appropriate legal provisions for making
recycling of water mandatory in all buildings
particularly larger hotels and industries where large
amount of water is consumed are to be taken out.
Since sustainability of the drinking water
source is of paramount importance for smooth
functioning of rural water supply, 25 per cent out of
20 per cent of the allocation under Accelerated Rural
Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) has been
earmarked exclusively for water harvesting schemes
to make implementation of such schemes mandatory.
Similarly, 25 percent out of the allocation under
Prime Ministers Gramodaya Yojana has also been
earmarked for funding schemes under submission
on sustainability.
MPs are to be requested to utilize Local Area
Development Fund in their respective constituencies
to take up water harvesting scheme.
Besides feasibility studies alone with
consultancy services for preparation of pilot projects
on rainwater harvestings in select states have already
been taken.
Further, preparation of user friendly atlas type
of document on traditional water harvesting
structures in various parts of the country has been
initiated for popularizing the concept of water
harvesting amongst all concerned including the
community.
Selected Reading
Agarawal, A etall State Indias environment Centre
for science and Environment New Delhi. 2001 edition
Agarawal, A etall Making water every body business
Practice and policy or water harvesting
- do Bisoyi L.K. Rain water harvesting and Artificial
recharge An innovative approach for crisis management
and sustainable development An experiences of New
Delhi- 21st National convention of Env. Engineers, 11-12
Nov. 2005, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
Concepts and practices for rain water harvesting
CPCB-MOEF-10/2001, New Delhi.
Kalam A.P.J- Integrated water mission - do
Kulkarni M.K. Rain water harvesting Definite tool
to win over water scarcity Integrated water and waste
water management for sustainable urban development
Modern trends I.E(India), Pune Local Centre 10-11
March-06.
Nimbal F. Rain water harvesting Yojana 6/05
New Delhi
Rain water harvesting Need of the MillenniumI.E.(India), Tamil Nadu State Center. Jointly with HUDCO
and Anna University- 12/2000.
Sahoo. N. Water harvesting in water sheds. Vigyan
Diganta 12/05, Bhubaneswar.
Yadupatty M.R. etall- Rain water harvesting A case
study of in a College campus at Myosore Hydrology
journal, quarterly IAH ISSN-0971-569X-vol-28- no3-4 Sept.2005.
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
SYNOPSIS
Traditional rainwater harvesting systems comprise mainly tanks, ponds and Ooranis
(drinking water ponds). Considering the erratic rainfall obtaining in our country, they have
been constructed by our ancestors over the past centuries, to capture the monsoon rains
and store them for later use when required. During the past few decades they are getting
degraded and even extinct due to various reasons, which has resulted in alarming water
scarcity, over exploitation of ground water and environmental hazards. DHAN Foundations
study, approach and efforts made to renovate these small scale water bodies with community
participation are described. The achievements and experiences of these efforts are explained,
with particular reference to the role of these renovated water bodies in augmenting storage
capacity, stabilizing tankfed & rainfed agriculture, increasing crop production and most
importantly improving the groundwater potential through recharge. In conclusion,
formulation of a massive programme of tank renovation & its implementation with some
priority criteria, and only through the user groups is recommended.
INTRODUCTION
Rainwater harvesting is undertaken mainly to
capture the run off from the seasonal rains and store
it for use in times of need. The storage is made on
the ground surface or underground, depending upon
the topography of the land, the types of surface and
sub surface soils and the underground geological
formations. Storage cisterns, check dams, farm
ponds, percolation ponds, Ooranis (drinking water
ponds), irrigation tanks and reservoirs comprise the
surface storage systems, Rain water stored in the
soil profile upto its field capacity, sub surface dams
constructed in deep sandy beds across rivers and
streams, sumps, dug wells, filter point wells, tube
wells and aquifers constitute the underground
storage systems. The source of supply for all these
storages is the rainfall which is highly variable.
The rainwater which is not harvested and
stored, mostly runs off the land surface and gets
wasted without proper use. Where the rains are
intense and continuous over some days, the run off
Table 1 : Merits, demerits & uses of different forms of rainwater harvesting and storage
STUDY
In order to gain a good understanding of the
traditional rainwater harvesting systems like tanks
and ponds DHAN Foundation first took up detailed
study of the location, design and construction
features, the water management practices and the
maintenance of the systems. It found that those rain
water harvesting structures were ideally located,
ingenious but simple in design, constructed with
locally available materials and maintained by the
local communities. However due to various reasons,
the foremost among them being the decline of
community management, these rainwater harvesting
structures have been steadily getting dilapidated and
in some cases even extinct. The government taking
control of the water bodies during the colonial rule
has triggered the decline of community management
of them. Massive groundwater programmes like the
construction of dug wells and tube wells,
aggressively promoted by government organisations
and banking institutions with inducements in the
form of liberal loans and subsidies, technological
innovations like electrical pumpsets, provision of
subsidised and in many cases free supply of
electricity to agriculturists for lifting water from the
wells - all these had contributed to the neglect of
the tanks.
This neglect has set in motion, other intrusions
like encroachments, weed infestation and
sedimentation of feeder channels and tank beds,
erosion of earthen embankments of tanks, loss of
sluice shutters, leaky sluices and damaged surplus
weirs, all of which have further compounded the
degradation process of the water bodies. Instead of
repairing or restoring the water resources through
community action, the people began looking upto
the government to undertake the works. The
governments attention was focussed more on
construction of massive dams and large scale
irrigation facilities across the country, terming them
as the new temples of modern India. It perhaps felt
that these small scale water bodies are too small to
provide any spectacular benefit and too scattered to
have an effective impact on the people, to initiate
any activity for their restoration. For a country which
at the time of independence was in a hurry to catch
up with the rest of the world and where millions of
people had to be literally hauled up above the poverty
line, this was considered to be the way out. But
OTHER BENEFITS
In quite a few tanks renovated in the rural areas
of Madurai district, inland fish culture has been
introduced in tank water which fetches the water
users a sizable income ranging from ten to fifty
thousand rupees a year per tank, depending upon
the period of tank storage and the efforts taken by
the local people to raise fish. Usufructs from trees
planted on the tank bunds and in tank beds have
generated additional income upto Rs 75000/- over
a six year period to the water user group.
In some tanks and Ooranis desilted under the
tank rehabilitation programme, the excavated tank
silt was applied to their agricultural lands, thereby
improving the texture and fertility status of the soils.
CONCLUSIONS
The Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS) Anna
University has prepared micro watershed maps
Panchayat Union wise, delineating therein the
revenue village boundaries; and identifying
favourable areas for ground water recharge using
remote sensing and GIS. We therefore suggest that
the tanks situated in such favourable tracts may be
taken up for rehabilitation on a priority basis, so
that the people of those regions will get the benefits
of tankfed agriculture and groundwater recharge as
well and also augment the storage of the existing
wells in the concerned tank commands.
We also strongly recommend that a ten year
plan for the period from 2006 to 2016 be prepared
to rehabilitate all the existing tanks and ooranis;
initiate tankbased watershed programme in all the
districts of Tamilnadu to include farm ponds,
drainage line treatment and tree planting on a
massive scale. We believe that this effort will
strengthen peoples participation and provide lasting
benefits to the rural communities through tankfed
agriculture and groundwater recharge.
All existing encroachments in the water bodies
may be summarily evicted and future encroachments
be strictly prohibited in order to preserve these gifts
of our forefathers and can be passed on to our future
generations to go along Natures path. Here it will
be appropriate to conclude this paper with a
quotation from Gandhiji. The greatness of a nation
and its moral progress can be judged by the way
people treat the environment.
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National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
118
State
Rajasthan
32.6
Maharashtra
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Punjab
Other
Total
22.0
16.0
14.2
12.7
4.0
2.8
104.3
Forth-coming Problems
Bore wells
Recharge
shafts
Deserted
wells
Open Wells
Recharge
pits
120
Recharge
trenches
Hand
Pumps
Recharge
wells
The structures required for rainwater harvesting
are simple and economical. Also suit in any
environment.
References
Artificial Recharge in India, A Publication of National
Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad.
Asati S.R., A case study on Rooftop rainwater
Harvesting, Proceedings in National Conference and
sustainable Development, L.A.D. and Smt.R.P.College for
women, Nagpur dated 16-17 Dec.2005.
Asati S.R., and Sharma N.S.Roof top Rainwater
Harvesting: A case study,proceedings in 38th Annual
Convention of I.W.W.A. hold at Jaipur (Rajasthan), 0608 Jan2006.
Ashtankar T, Kelkar P and Nanoti M, ., Rainwater
Harvesting in Urban Areas- A Review , proceedings in
38th Annual Convention of I.W.W.A. hold at Jaipur
(Rajasthan), 06-08 Jan2006.
C.G.W.B., Manual on Artificial Recharge of Ground
water, March 1994, Technical Series M.No-3.
Dainik Bhaskar-News Paper, 28th June 2004.
Development of Monomolecular Film to Act as
Evaporation Retardant and Prevent Water from
Evaporating from large Water Bodies Economically,
Project No. ID/17/95 sponsored by Ministry of Water
Resources, Govt. of India.
Husiman L. & Olsthoorn T.N., Artificial Groundwater
Recharge, Pitman Advanced Publishing Program.
IWWA proceeding of 33rd Annual Convention Theme,
Water for New Millennium.
Mahajan G., Ground Water Recharge, Ashish
Publishing House, New Delhi.
Pingle S.S. Water Harvesting- The Need of the Hour,
Proceedings in National Conference and sustainable
Development, L.A.D. and Smt.R.P.College for women,
Nagpur dated 16-17 Dec.2005.
National Drinking Water Mission, Water Harvesting
System Reference manual.
Rainwater Harvesting, A Publication of national
Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee
Todd D. K., Ground Water Hydrology, John Wiley
& sons
Trivedi S.H and Bhavnani H. V., Artificial Ground
Water Recharge through Roof top Rainwater Harvesting:
A case study, proceedings in 38th Annual Convention of
I.W.W.A. hold at Jaipur (Rajasthan), 06-08 Jan2006.
121
122
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
Abstract :
The problem of water shortage in arid and semi-arid regions is one due to low rainfall
and uneven distribution through out the season, which makes rain fed agriculture a risky
enterprise. Rain water harvesting for dry-land agriculture is a traditional water management
technology to ease future water scarcity in many arid and semi-arid regions of world. The
paper discusses the use of water harvesting as an effective tool for water management. The
various forms of water harvesting have been elucidated. The common goal of all forms is to
secure water supply for annual crops, pastures, trees and animals in dry areas without tapping
groundwater or river-water sources. As the appropriate choice of technique depends on the
amount of rainfall and its distribution, land topography, soil type and soil depth and local
socio-economic factors, these systems tend to be very site specific. The water harvesting methods
applied strongly depend on local conditions and include such widely differing practices as
bunding, pitting, micro catchments water harvesting, flood water and ground water harvesting.
Introduction
Rain water harvesting is defined as the
collection of runoff and its use for the irrigation of
crops, pastures and trees, and for livestock
consumption. As long as mankind has inhabited
semi-arid areas and cultivated agricultural crops, it
has practiced some kind of water harvesting. Based
on natural water harvesting the use, of the
waters of ephemeral streams was already the basis
of livelihood in the arid and semi-arid areas many
thousands of years ago, allowing the establishment
of cities in the desert .The European expansion,
especially the technological development since
1850, lead to a steady increase in area under
classical irrigation techniques with preference to
large schemes. The classical sources of irrigation
water are often at the break of overuse and therefore
untapped sources of (irrigation) water have to be
sought for increasing agricultural productivity and
providing sustained economic base. Water
harvesting for dry-land agriculture is a traditional
water management technology to ease future water
scarcity in many arid and semi-arid regions of world.
1. Basic Concept
1.1 General concept
Water harvesting is applied in arid and semiarid regions where rainfall is either not sufficient to
sustain good crop and pasture growth or where, due
to the erratic nature of precipitation, the risk of crop
failure is very high. Water harvesting can
significantly increase plant production in drought
prone areas by concentrating the rainfall/runoff in
parts of the total area. The intermittent character of
rainfall and runoff and the ephemerality of
floodwater flow requires some kind of storage. There
might be some kind of interim storage in tanks,
cisterns or reservoirs or soil itself serves as a
reservoir for a certain period of time.
Water harvesting is based on the utilization of
surface runoff; therefore it requires runoff producing
and runoff receiving areas. In most cases, with the
exception of floodwater harvesting from far away
catchments, water harvesting utilizes the rainfall
from the same location or region. It do not include
its conveyance over long distances or its use after
enriching the groundwater reservoir. Water
*Pre-final Year **Professor ***Professor & Head, Post Graduate Environmental Engineering Department
Deptt. of Civil Engineering, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh 160 012
123
The system shown in the Fig was given by BenAshler [1] and has the following parameters.
1. Catchment Area = 3 - 250 sq. m
2. Cropping Area= 1 - 10 sq. m
3. Catchment: Cropping Ratio = 3: 1 -25:1
4. Precipitation =150- 600 mm/a
5. Slope = 1 - 20%
2.5.2
Floodwater diversion
Floodwater diversion means forcing the wadi
water to leave its natural course and conveying it to
nearby areas suitable for arable cropping.
Floodwater diversion techniques were already
applied several thousand years ago.
3.1 Rainfall
The knowledge of rainfall characteristics
(intensity and distribution) for a given area is one
of the pre-requisites for designing a water harvesting
system. The availability of rainfall data series in
space and time and rainfall distribution are important
for rainfall-runoff process and also for determination
of available soil moisture. A threshold rainfall events
(e.g. of 5 mm/event) is used in many rainfall runoff
models as a start value for runoff to occur. The
intensity of rainfall is a good indicator of which
rainfall is likely to produce runoff. Useful rainfall
factors for the design of a rain- or floodwater
harvesting system include:
(1) Number of days in which the rain exceeds the
threshold rainfall of the catchment, on a weekly or
monthly basis.
3.5 Socio-economic
&
infrastructure
conditions
The socio-economic conditions of a region
being considered for any water harvesting scheme
are very important for planning, designing and
implementation. The chances for success are much
greater if resource users and community groups are
involved from early planning stage onwards. The
farming systems of the community, the financial
capabilities of the average farmer, the cultural
behaviour together with religious belief of the
people, attitude of farmers towards the introduction
of new farming methods, the farmers knowledge
about irrigated agriculture, land tenure and property
rights and the role of women and minorities in the
communities are crucial issues.
4.
Conclusions
Substantial amounts of rainfall in semi-arid
areas are lost (e.g. by evaporation from soil
surfaces), which could be utilized for agricultural
production. This could be achieved through water
127
128
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
Abstract
The technology to effectively utilize rain and river water through advanced ground
water recharging technique is a system which club together nearly every engineering aspect
related to it and utilizes them in the best possible way to serve the humanity.
It channelizes the floodwater and the water, which would otherwise mix with the sea,
as a ground water reserve, so that it can be made available, to the whole country during
non-monsoon months. As the pure water free from all impurities is stored under-ground
therefore a very huge percentage of water, which would have been evaporated if it had been
stored on the surface, can be saved.
In addition to all these capabilities the technology proves to be the gods blessing by
generating electricity, through pollution free hydroelectric power plant in between the journey
of this harnessed water from the surface location to under-ground aquifers, extracting all
the additional energy which the water initially possess due to its potential head.
1.
INTRODUCTION
Water is an excellent resource of nature, and it
can be made to serve various functions. Properly
planned use of water may nourish our farms and
forests, may run our turbines for generation of hydroelectric power, may help in preparing modern
medicines for cure of various ailments and diseases,
may help in beautifying our surroundings and
environments, etc. Besides, fulfilling the basic
necessities of life, properly harnessed and developed
water can enable us to lead an effluent and a
luxurious life. It is in fact, an amazing fluid and can
lead to an overall prosperity of a nation and that of
the entire community as a whole. But, if not properly
harnessed or planned, the same useful servant may
become wild or an enemy in the form of severe
storms, floods, hurricanes, etc bringing disasters,
devastations and catastrophes.
Proper planning is, therefore, absolutely
Krishna Mandir, Cement Road, Sadar, Gandhi Chowk, Nagpur - 440 001 India
Email: chetan hari Sharma@indiatimes.com
129
Table -1 :
Comparison of Agricultural Productivity and
Ground Water Irrigation in India
131
6.
VARIOUS
PROPOSALS
INTERLINKING OF RIVERS
FOR
8.
CONCLUSION
The technology to effectively utilize rain and
river water through advanced ground water
recharging technique is a project that would provide
137
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
ABSTRACT
The present drought like situation in the lower Assam Brahmaputra Valley compelled
the people residing here to change their mindset that Northeast India wont experience
drought. More than five lakhs farmers were affected by the unusual drought this year. Until
recent past the valley was considered to be the most vulnerably affected by flood twice a
year. However, due to global climatic change and other such factors now this region is also
experiencing drought like situation. Therefore, it is high time that people should wake up
and culture their mind to face any such situation in near future and use the resources
judiciously and learn the concept of sustainable development to preserve the natural resource
available to them for future generation. Here the authors have designed a simple model and
the cheapest method of rainwater harvesting keeping in mind the amount of precipitation,
topography, soil, depth, vegetation, cost of construction, storage and distribution system
for the poor people of northeast India. As rainfall is the main source of surface water and
its conservation is essential, therefore rainwater harvesting is one of the most promising
techniques for collection of excess runoff. In this northeastern part, bamboo is considered
the green gold. From storage to groundwater recharge in the present model bamboo has
been used which is easily available here. This technique of rainwater harvesting would be
very cheap for the farmers in particular and the masses in general living in the hilly regions
as well as in the plains of northeast India.
KEYWORDS : Rainwater harvesting, sustainable development, ground water recharge,
bamboo.
Corresponding Author: suklageo@yahoo.com
INTRODUCTION
Water is a key for sustainable watershed
development and of all the natural resources; water
plays a very vital role in lives of human beings.
Presence and absence of water clearly determines
the culture and growth of community and a healthy
economy. Rain is the only natural source of fresh
water in India. Over all the percentage of recharging
of ground aquifers is 5-20% of total rain. It also
depends on terrain, topsoil condition, sub- surface
formation & rainfall pattern etc. Topsoil can hold
Assam
Arunachal Pradesh
1927 mm
Meghalaya
NORTH EAST
Average annual rainfall was calculated from
the rainfall data collected from Indian
Meteorological Department. For other related data,
standard literature and methods have been followed.
Methodology for rainwater harvesting are: for
potable water - simply to collect water from the roof
to a storage tank or to collect water from roof to
recharge bore well, open well, hand pump etc. For
groundwater recharge abandoned well, abandoned
or running bore well, hand pump, recharge pit,
recharge trench or recharge well could be used. To
prevent surface runoff percolation ponds, check
dams, sub-surface dyke, recharge pit, recharge trench
could be constructed. The low-cost water tank to
store rain water could be made of bamboo and plastic
film. Villagers in North East use a large bamboo
basket shaped like a silo, for storing grain. If this
silo is internally lined with a good grade polythene
film, it can be used as a water tank. The bamboo
should be made non-biodegradable by soaking it in
a solution containing 450g of sodium dichromate,
300g of copper sulphate and 150g of boric acid
dissolved in 10litres of water. Such treated bamboo
has an outside life of between 10 and 20 years.
The distance between adjacent bamboo poles
1200
OUTLET
DRAINOUT
VALVE
5000
143
Description
Small-scale
Medium
Large
Value of water
As with many other goods, water has a
declining value with quantity. The first litre per day
is worth more than the tenth. By examining the
limited data available that relates household
consumption per day to the effective unit cost of
144
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledges thanks to
Prof. J.N.Sarma, Dept. of Applied Geology,
Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam for his
valuable suggestion. Thanks to our friend Negul
Devan K.R. (B.E) for timely help.
CONCLUSIONS
The forest covers are decreasing. Hence, water
and soil hold by roots, plants are degraded. And, it
is affecting hydrological cycle badly. This is
resulting in tremendous increase in depth of ground
water level. It is high time to implement rainwaterharvesting projects in northeastern part of India.
These technologies are simple to install and operate.
Local people can be easily trained to implement such
technologies, and construction materials are also
readily available. It is convenient in the sense that it
provides water at the point of consumption, and
family members have full control of their own
systems, which greatly reduces operation and
maintenance problems. Although regional or other
local factors can modify the local climatic
conditions, rainwater can be a continuous source of
water supply for both the rural and poor.
The feasibility of rainwater harvesting in a
particular locality is highly dependent upon the
amount and intensity of rainfall. Other variables,
such as catchment area and type of catchment
surface, usually can be adjusted according to
household needs. As rainfall is usually unevenly
distributed throughout the year, rainwater collection
methods can serve as only supplementary sources
of household water. Rainwater harvesting appears
to be one of the most promising alternatives for
supplying freshwater in the face of increasing water
scarcity and escalating demand in the urban as well
as in the rural areas. The pressures on rural water
supplies, greater environmental impacts associated
with new projects, and increased opposition from
NGOs to the development of new surface water
sources, as well as deteriorating water quality in
surface reservoirs already constructed, constrain the
ability of communities to meet the demand for
freshwater from traditional sources, and present an
opportunity for augmentation of water supplies using
this technology. May be with every rural and urban
household participation in their unique small scale
rainwater harvesting projects replenishes the
REFERENCES
C-3 Report by IIT Delhi, July 2000, Water quality in domestic
roof water harvesting systems (DRWH) & Bamboo reinforced
concrete construction
Gould, J.E. 1992. Rainwater Catchment Systems for Household
Water Supply, Environmental Sanitation Reviews, No. 32,
ENSIC, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.
Gould, J.E. and H.J. McPherson 1987. Bacteriological Quality
of Rainwater in Roof and Groundwater Catchment Systems in
Botswana, Water International, 12:135-138.
Nissen-Petersen, E. 1982. Rain Catchment and Water Supply
in Rural Africa: A Manual. Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., London.
Pacey, A. and A. Cullis 1989. Rainwater Harvesting: The
Collection of Rainfall and Runoff in Rural Areas, WBC Print
Ltd., London.
Rao, N.S, Important considerations for the success of rainwater
harvesting Hydrogeology Laboratory, Department of Geology,
Andhra University,
Rees, D.G, Nyakaana, S & Thomas, T.H, 2000, Development
Technology Unit ,School of Engineering, University of Warwick,
Domestic Rainwater Harvesting Research Programme VERYLOW-COST ROOFWATER HARVESTING IN EAST
AFRICA (Based on a Feasibility Study performed in the Great
Lakes Region during May July 2000) by Working Paper No.
55, pp. 8,9, 22,23,30,31.
Schiller, E.J. and B. G. Latham 1987. A Comparison of
Commonly Used Hydrologic Design Methods for Rainwater
Collectors, Water Resources Development, 3.
Singh, V.P, Sharma, N & Ojha, C.S.P 2004, Ed. The
Brahmaputra Basin Water Resources, Vol. 47, Kluwer Academic
Publishers, London.
Singh, R.V. 2003, Ed. Watershed Planning and Management,
Yash Publishing House, Bikaner-334003, India.
UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) 1982. Rain
and Storm water Harvesting in Rural Areas, Tycooly
International Publishing Ltd., Dublin.
Wall, B.H. and R.L. McCown 1989. Designing Roof Catchment
Water Supply Systems Using Water Budgeting Methods, Water
Resources Development, 5:11-18.
145
1.0. INTRODUCTION
A precious source of water availability has
become scarce, hence the need for conservation. The
development of water resources in the country is at
cross roads. This sustainability of water resources
has been endangered by vagaries of rainfall and
unplanned development. An optimum development
can be achieved by the conjuctive use of surface
and ground waters.
Rain water Harvesting is the concept, which
includes a holistic approach to develop, augment,
protect and conserve water resources. This concept
is to be envisaged and practice in order to ensure
the sustainability of ongoing groundwater
development for multiple uses and to provide scope
for further development of growing demand/
*SE, ME, MIE, PG (PMIR), DIRECTOR (LIAISON), HQ EAC IAF, C/O 99 APO
146
2.0 AIM
The aim of the Rain Water Harvesting by virtue
of suitable techniques/methods to conserve the
already depleting reservoirs. Therefore, the local
units/area/body are impressed upon to under take
these feasible technique/methods through simple but
lucid description, provide small budgetary estimates
with time frame in which this can be achieved.
Therefore, our aim is to improve the existing ground
surface water through efficient rainwater harvesting
management.
3.0 MANAGEMENT
It is the technical methods, which manage the
existing surface, and ground water potential of the
catchments or water shed areas. So as to develop,
augment and conserve them. Judicious harvesting
management is most inevitable to the followings:3.1 Arrest ground water decline, improve ground
water levels and availability.
3.2 Beneficiate water quality in acquirers.
3.3 Arrest seawater ingress.
3.4 Conserve surface water run off during
monsoons.
3.5 Enhance availability of ground water at the
specific place and time.
3.6 Reduce power consumption.
3.7 Consume unused wastewater.
3.8 Conserve energy.
3.9 Save environment from degradation.
TRENCHES
5.4.1 Recharge pits. Pits are dug depending upon
available rooftop water from the buildings and are
located inside the premise and away from foundation
or concrete structures so as to have its sitting over
pervious soil for better and faster absorption. The
pits are preferably located near the precinct and
thereafter filled with permeable material like
pebbles, gravel and sand for better percolation and
improved water quality through dilution during
percolation.
EXISTING WELLS
Ground water recharge of existing bore wells
is one of the method of modifying the hydrological
cycle and thereby providing ground water in excess
of that available by natural processes. It is
accomplished by augmenting the natural infiltration
of precipitation or surface water in to underground
formations by some method of construction, by
providing or spreading of water or by artificially
changing the natural conditions.
6.0 INDICATION OF DEPLETING WATER
YIELD
It has been observed from the post
performances of the bore wells/shallow wells/open
wells that the over exploitation has gradually
diminished their yields. This was ascertain / evident
from the observation and are as under.
6.1 Poor quality of water, occasionally muddy.
6.2 Frequent lowering of submersible pump in
order to keep the later submerged.
6.3 Water output varying and found in spurts.
6.4 More draw out than natural recharge by rains
etc. Bore wells being run continuously for hours
without permitting recharge.
6.5 Sealing of natural recharge areas in and around
bore wells with impervious
side well, streets, parking lots and buildings. This
diverts ground water flow
direction and prevent recharge.
6.6 In real ground situation, sub surface water is
diverted due to troughs and
mounds, other Geological, Topological conditions.
The above factors have caused overdraft from
the bore wells and must be recharged
immediately as the yield from these bore wells have
been helping us to reduce dependence
on outside agency for the deficient supply of water
especially during peak summer when
the catchments go dry and reduce available water.
The wells which are near surface water bodies
(such as ponds, Golf course, Dairy form and play
grounds) continuing to give good yields and
harvesting is naturally carried out.
7.0 COMPUTATION
AND
TOTAL
POTENTIAL OF RECHARGE
The potential through bore well harvesting will
depend upon how big catchments is diverted for
METHOD
The water is led from the roof to the storage
tank through a series of gutters and pipes.
Conventional gutters are normally used, but for
economy they can be made with V shaped lengths
of tin sheet hang under the roof edge from wire or
lengths of rigid PVC pipe at along the length and
clamped to the edge of the roof. Rigid PVC pipes
are considered as they are cheaper easier to maintain
and will reduce contamination.
7.1 RECHARGE
Exact computation of sub surface inflow and
infiltration (Water entering the soil at the surface is
called infiltration) need comprehensive geological
investigation. The recharge of bore wells can be
carried out through water shed approach while dried
up dug well can be used directly for storing water of
surround catchment.
The rainwater harvesting to increase the water
table should be graded so as to prevent the
accumulation or retention of surface water within a
radius of 15 meters from the bore well.
An expensive proposition is not viable for
Military stations where water quality can be
improved with silt filtering pit alone. Hence it is
being considered only at those locations to augment
for potable water. The shallow wells were rainwater
from surrounding catchments can be directed inside
through silt filtering unit above as the water is soft
and does not get surface impurities.
To have economical and viable harvesting of
rainwater in the water source, an area of approx
5,000 to 10,000 Sq m around bore well should be
made ground water collection. The area should
commence 15 meters away from bore well.
6
p
1.91M
Say 1.9 M depth
Such pit can be easily & economically dug
149
9.1 METHODS
Artificial charge of water source can be
managed and developed by planned extractions of
ground and surface water during periods of low
precipitation while subsequent replenishment can be
made during periods of surplus surface supply. Such
a coordinated operation of surface and ground water
supplies is possible if there is sufficient ground water
storage to meet the requirements for regulation of
local water supplies and if the aquifers possesses
sufficient transmissibility to permit the movement
of recharged water to the area of extraction. The
recharged storage constructed under watershed
approach should be devoid of losses due to
evaporation and quality deterioration due to
pollution (which will make it useless for any
application).
The No of SCT
= Nos of Pockets x Water Potential in M3
20000
=
10 x 157833
20000
78.92
=
79 Nos
Therefore, in each pocket 7 or 8 Nos of SCT
may be created.
11.0 DRAWINGS
The drawings showing composite plan for
recharging structure, design details of Ferro cement
storage tank capacity 12000 Ltr, plan for recharging
structure, design and details of recharging structure,
typical drawing details of roof water harvesting
structure, roof top rain water harvesting structure
and design of pits for rain water harvesting are
attached as
152
Inlet Pipe
3.0 m
6 dia pipe
3.0 m
Inlet Pipe
3.0 m
6 dia pipe
3.0 m
Fig - 2 : Plan of Recharging
153
154
156
157
12.0 CONTAMINATION
Medical Authorities of civil area/SHO for
Military station may object to open harvesting of
water, since the harvesting surfaces being exposed
through out the year and are subject to contamination
by dust, insects and birds and those at ground level
are also liable to be contaminated by animals and
humans. The following precautionary measures are
recommended:- Location from Contamination
source Recommended distance of harvesting
structure such as pit, trenches etc. from source of
contamination.
Building sewer
15 M
Septic tanks Disposal filed
15 M
Seepage pit
30 M
Swimming pool
45 M
If any bore well or shallow well is to be charged
with water, which is at a distance less than above,
should permit deeper trenches with silt-setting
chamber following by silt-filtering pit. The bore
13.0 CONCLUSION
Rain Water Harvesting needs to be
implemented in defence area/other places in order
that the on going actives are not hampered due to
paucity of water resources. Nature has showered
enough potential to recharge our existing water
bodies and also to store water for years to come and
to meet the present/future demands.
158
National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
**Dr. A. G. Bhole
INTRODUCTION
We have greatly hampered the natural ground
water recharge by drawnif excessive water and
covering / paving up all the available open land.
Rainwater harvesting is merely putting back
rainwater into the soil or in underground or above
ground tank so that we can draw it whenever we
need it. Less than 1% of worlds water is available
in the form of river, pond and lake for human use.
Out of total rainfall in India, run off is about 85 %,
percolation is about 7%, evaporation is about 5%
and human use is about is about 3%. Urbanization
and increase in population in the recent decades
have contaminated water bodies, thus making them
unfit for drinking and use. This is coupled with
mans growing needs and excessive tapping of
groundwater through numerous bore wells and tube
wells, which has depleted water table to great extent.
Rain Water harvesting (RWH) will to some extend
help to meet the increased demand. It has been
estimated that the amount of rainwater that falls on
the terrace of the houses can take care of the water
requirement of an average family of four members
for one year.
RWH is a technology used for collecting and
storing rainwater from rooftops, the land surface or
rock catchments using simple techniques such as
underground check dams.
RWH has gained tremendous interest among
academicians, institutions and layman in the past
few years. Roof top harvesting has a clearer
definition as water collected from rooftop chiefly
for domestic consumption. Rain Water Harvesting
is a low cost solution to solve water crises.
Need of RWH :
In India there are 600000 villages and almost
Fig. 1
Course mesh It should be provided at the roof to
prevent the passage of derbies. It should be provided
at the bottom of parapet wall as shown in figure
160
Table No 1.0
Diameter
of pipe
(mm)
50
75
100
125
150
200
50
13.4
8.9
6.6
5.3
4.4
3.3
65
24.1
16.0
12.0
9.0
8.0
6.0
75
40.8
27.0
20.4
16.3
13.6
10.2
100
85.4
57.0
42.7
34.2
28.5
21.3
125
80.5
64.3
53.5
40.0
150
83.6
62.7
Jayakumar Filter
Fig. No. 7
d) Varun: S. Viswanath developed a filter named
Varun for purifying rainwater. According to him,
from a decently clean roof Varun can handled
50mm/hour intensity of rainfall from 50 sq. m. of a
roof area. This means the product is relatively
standardized. Varun is made from 90-liter high
density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) drum. The lid is
tumbuer and holes are punched in it. This is the first
sieve, which keeps out larger leaves, twinges etc.
rainwater coming out sieve then passes through the
Dewas Filter
Fig No. 6
162
Filter material
in a soakaway
163
Note :
1. Above structures are meant for area with small
catchment like individual houses.
2. RCC slab cover is optional.
3. Top (1') portion may be filled with sand.
i)
For Rural Area : (Rooftop Rain water
harvesting) In rural areas most of the houses are
having Mangalore tiles roof. In this gutters are
provided along the periphery of the roof and get
collected in a small tank as shown in fig. No 15.
Percolation Tank
Fig No 17
Check Dam
Fig No. 18
DESIGN CONSIDERATION:
The most important components which needs
to be evaluated for designing rain water structures
are
Collection efficiency
Roof Top
0.75-0.95
Paved area
0.5-0.85
Bare land
0.1-0.2
Green area
0.05-0.1
167
Table No 3
Type of Catchment
Coefficients
Roof Catchments
-Tiles
0.8-0.9
0.7- 0.9
0.6-0.8
- Brick pavement
0.5- 0.6
Legislation of RWH.
Kerala: The Kerala Municipality Building Rules,
1999 was amended by a notification dated January
12, 2004 issued by the Government of Kerala to
include rainwater harvesting structures in new
construction.
109. A Rooftop rainwater harvesting
agreements.1) Unless otherwise stipulated
specifically in a town planning scheme, workable
roof top rainwater harvesting arrangements shall be
provided as in integral part of all new building
constructs for the following occupancies, namely
i) Group A1 Residential (with floor area of
100 m2 or more and plot area 200 m2 or more)
ii) Group A2 Special Residential.
iii) Group B Educational.
iv) Group C Medical / Hospital.
v) Group D Assembly
vi) Group E Office / Business.
vii) Group G1 and Group G2 industrial (Only for
workshop, assembly plant, laboratories, drycleaning plant, diaries food processing unit and any
other occupancies noticed by the government from
time to time).Provided that the floor area to be
constructed shall be the total floor area in all floors:
provided further that, the rainwater harvesting
arrangement is not mandatory for thatched roofed
building.
2) The components of workable rooftop rain
water harvesting arrangements as stipulated in subrule (1) above, shall include
i)
Roof catchments area
ii) Roof gutters
iii) Down pipe and first flush pipe arrangement
iv) Filter unit
v) Storage tank with provision of drawing water
and spillover
3) The minimum capacity of storage tank as
stipulated in sub- rule (2) (v) of the roof top
0.0-0.3
0.2 - 0.5
1.0-0.3
0.2 - 0.5
Example :
Area of terrace = 150 sq.m.
Height of Rainfall = 500 mm (0.5m)
Volume of rainfall = 150 x 0.5
= 7.5 m3 = 75000 Lit.
Assuming that 70 80 % of the total rainfall is
effectively harvested
Volume of water harvested = 75000 X 0.7
= 52500 liters.
Generally water required for drinking, cooking is
10 liter / capita/day
Suppose the family of six people
Total quantity of water required / family = 10 x 6
= 60 liters.
For a year
= 365 x 60
= 21900 liters.
The water required for family for drinking and
cooking purpose is less than the rain water harvested
i.e. harvested water is double than the water required
for main purpose.
Design of Storage tank
Tank capacity : Tank capacity is based on dry
period i.e. the period between the two consecutive
rainy seasons. Suppose monsoon is for four months
i.e. 120 days , then the dry days are 245.
We know that quantity of water required for
168
25 liters/ m2
25 liters/ m2
50 liters/ m2
50 liters/ m2
50 liters/ m2
50 liters/ m2
Nil
50 liters/ m2
25 liters/ m2
Nil
References :
1) Centre for Science and Environment ( CSE)
2) National building code.
3) A water-harvesting manual for urban area.
4) S. Vishwanath. Domestic Rainwater harvesting.
Some application in Banglore, India
5) Centre of science for villages ( www.csvtech.org)
Table No 4
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Well
recharging
(Target)
Well
recharging
(Achieved)
Nagpur
Kamthi
Hingna
Kalmeshwar
Katol
Narkhed
Sawaner
Parshivni
Ramtek
Mouda
Kuhi
Umared
Bhivapur
150
125
150
150
150
150
150
125
150
125
125
125
125
32
58
39
150
125
150
150
150
150
150
125
150
125
125
125
125
117
128
200
TOTAL
1800
176
70
48
20
0
14
457
310
58
59
27
06
44
1800
949
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Nagpur
Kamthi
Hingna
Kalmeshwar
Katol
Narkhed
Sawaner
Parshivni
Ramtek
Mouda
Kuhi
Umared
Bhivapur
TOTAL
Well recharging
(Target)
150
125
150
150
150
150
150
125
150
125
125
125
125
1800
150
125
150
150
150
150
150
125
150
125
125
125
125
1800
100
100
150
100
150
100
100
100
150
100
100
100
150
1500
170