Against Rainwater Harvesting:

We often consider rainwater harvesting as an excellent solution to the water shortage

problem growing up in many cities. The application of rainwater harvesting first
appeared in some remote villages with plenty of land where the villagers made bunds and
started collecting rainwater for their annual water requirements. Many of us liked the idea
and considered that this would end up our problems related to water shortage in the
country. Well, the soil conditions, population density as well as infrastructure conditions
are different in different cities, and hence we do not get desired results only with the
rainwater harvesting. Let us understand it with a simple example-

Suppose we have two storage tanks, of cubical shape of 1m each dimension. These tanks
are connected with a 1” diameter pipeline. And are partially filled with water. We start
taking water out from one tank and pouring the same quantity to the other one. What
would happen? The level of first tank will reduce to a certain value and that of second
will increase. If we increase the flow of water from one tank to another, the level of first
tank will start decreasing rapidly, but eventually get stabilized to some other, lower value.
This is what is happening now. There are different storage sections below ground and the
water balance is maintained.

Now consider the case where the water flow in above case is increased further. There
would appear a situation when the first tank will be almost empty. We may call this flow
rate to be the critical flow rate, at which our resources go dry. Now, we put another
pump, of relatively small capacity from second tank to the first one. The water level in
first tank will slightly increase. But if the water flow from first tank to second is not
controlled, we’ll end up in empty first tank. In this example, we may simulate the pump
from second tank to the first one as rainwater harvesting.

Now, we should consider the case of our water requirements. For example, Delhi has a
population density of approx. 8000 persons per square Km. Water Obtained from rains at
a rate of 800mm annual rainfall equals to be 800000 KL per year. In a city like Delhi if
we consider 17-18% area occupied with roads, around 20% occupied with mud houses
where rainwater harvesting is not possible, and 30% open area where rain water goes to
ground already, we can recover a maximum of 30%, i.e. 240000KL per year. With a 50%
collection efficiency, we get only 120000KL/year or 350 KL/Day or approx. 44 lit per
person per day, almost 15-20% of present water consumption only.

The second part comes with the economics of implementation. For a family having 200
sq. m. plot area, the roof area can be only 60%, as per existing rules. In this case the
water collection will be 96 KL per year. If we consider rainfall of 40mm on a day, which
is a common figure during rainy season, the occupant will be required to have
approximately 5 KL storage volume in the house. With a smaller storage capacity, water
collection efficiency would fall rapidly. Considering the cost involvement and practical
feasibility, one can understand that it is not a viable solution to water shortage.

With all of above, it is strongly recommended to concentrate on reduction in

consumption, particularly in congested cities rather than implementing techniques that
can work in low population density areas.

From:

D K Singhal
V.P.(Tech.)
Chandpur Enterprises Ltd.,
Sargam Theatre, CHANDPUR-246725
Dist. Bijnor, (U.P.)
Ph.: 01345.220140
Fax: 01345.224140
Mobile: 09412713426
chandpurpapers@yahoo.com
deveshksinghal@rediffmail.com