Rain Water Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for reuse before it reaches the aquifer. Uses include water for garden, water for livestock, water for irrigation, etc. In many places the water collected is just redirected to a deep pit with percolation. The harvested water can be used for drinking water as well if the storage is a tank that can be accessed and cleaned when needed. Rainwater harvesting provides an independent water supply during regional water restrictions, and in developed countries is often used to supplement the mains supply. Rainwater harvesting systems are appealing as they are easy to understand, install and operate. They are effective in ‘green droughts’ as water is captured from rainfall where runoff is insufficient to flow into dam storages.

The quality of captured rainwater is usually sufficient for most household needs, reducing the need for detergents because rainwater is soft. Financial benefits to the users include that rain is ‘renewable’ at acceptable volumes despite climate change forecasts, and rainwater harvesting systems generally have low running costs, providing water at the point of consumption (Ferguson 2012).[1] Benefits of widespread rainwater harvesting to the regional reticulated supply system may include reduced treatment, pumping, operation and augmentation costs, reducing peak storm water runoff and storm water processing costs, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions due to reduced dependence on pumping and potential augmentation through sources such as desalination (Coombes 2007, White, 2009).

Quality
The concentration of contaminants is reduced significantly by diverting the initial flow of runoff water to waste.[2] Improved water quality can also be obtained by using a floating draw-off mechanism (rather than from the base of the tank) and by using a series of tanks, with draw from the last in series. The stored rainwater may need to be analyzed properly before use in a way appropriate to its safety.

System Setup
Rainwater harvesting systems can be installed with minimal skills.[3] The system should be sized to meet the water demand throughout the dry season since it must be big enough to support daily water consumption. Specifically, the rainfall capturing area such as a building roof must be large enough to maintain adequate flow. Likewise, the water storage tank should be large enough to contain the captured water.

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

[edit]Rain water harvesting by fresh water flooded forests
Rain water harvesting is possible by growing fresh water flooded forests without losing the income from the used land. [4] The main purpose of the rain water harvesting is to utilize the locally available rain water to meet water requirements throughout the year without the need of huge capital expenditure. This would facilitate availability of uncontaminated water for domestic, industrial and irrigation needs.

History
Early era
Around the third century BCE, farming communities in Baluchistan (in present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran), and Kutch (in present-day India) used rainwater harvesting for irrigation.[5] In ancient Tamil Nadu (India), rainwater harvesting was done by Chola kings.[6] Rainwater from the Brihadeeswarar temple was collected in Sivaganga tank.[7] During the later Chola period, the Vīrānam tank was built (1011 to 1037 CE) in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu to store water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Vīrānam is a 16-kilometre (9.9 mi) long tank with a storage capacity of 1,465,000,000 cubic feet (41,500,000 m3). Present day

* Currently in China and Brazil, rooftop rainwater harvesting is being practiced for providing drinking water, domestic water, water for livestock, water for small irrigation and a way to replenish ground water levels. Gansu province in China and semi-arid north east Brazil have the largest rooftop rainwater harvesting projects ongoing. * In Bermuda, the law requires all new construction to include rainwater harvesting adequate for the residents. * The U.S. Virgin Islands have a similar law.

* In Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, the houses of the Diola-people are frequently equipped with homebrew rainwater harvesters made from local, organic materials. * In the Irrawaddy Delta of Myanmar, the groundwater is saline and communities rely on mud-lined rainwater ponds to meet their drinking water needs throughout the dry season. Some of these ponds are centuries old and are treated with great reverence and respect. * Until 2009 in Colorado, water rights laws almost completely restricted rainwater harvesting; a property owner who captured rainwater was deemed to be stealing it from those who have rights to take water from the watershed. Now, residential well owners that meet certain criteria may obtain a permit to install a rooftop precipitation collection system(SB 09-080).[8]

Up to 10 large scale pilot studies may also be permitted (HB 09-1129).[9] The main factor in persuading the Colorado Legislature to change the law was a 2007 study that found that in an average year, 97% of the precipitation that fell in Douglas County, in the southern suburbs of Denver, never reached a stream—it was used by plants or evaporated on the ground. In Colorado you cannot even drill a water well unless you have at least 35 acres. In New Mexico, rainwater catchment is mandatory for new dwellings in Santa Fe.[10] * In Beijing, some housing societies are now adding rain water in their main water sources after proper treatment. * In Ireland, Professor Micheal McGinley established a project to design a rain water harvesting prototype in the Biosystems design Challenge Module at University College Dublin. * In Australia rainwater harvesting is typically used as a supplement to the reticulated mains supply, and it is mandated in many building codes. In south east Queensland, households that harvested rainwater doubled each year from 2005 to 2008, reaching 40% penetration at that time (White, 2009 (PhD)). India

* In India, rain water harvesting was first introduced by Andhra Pradesh ex-Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. He made a rule that every house which is going to built in cities of that state must have a percolation pit/rainwater harvesting system. This rule increased the ground water level in good phase. After his term as Chief Minister, the next leaders neglected this system. * In the state of Tamil Nadu, rainwater harvesting was made compulsory for every building to avoid ground water depletion. It proved excellent results within five years, and every other state took it as role model. Since its implementation, Chennai saw a 50 percent rise in water level in five years and the water quality significantly improved.[11][12] * In Rajasthan, rainwater harvesting has traditionally been practiced by the people of the Thar Desert. There are many ancient water harvesting systems in Rajasthan, which have now been revived [13] * Kerala:

Main article: Rainwater harvesting in Kerala
* At present, in Pune (in Maharashtra), rainwater harvesting is compulsory for any new society to be registered. * An attempt has been made at Dept. of Chemical Engineering, IISc, Bangalore [1] to harvest rainwater using upper surface of a solar still, which was used for water distillation[14] [edit]Sri Lanka

* Rainwater harvesting has been a popular method of obtaining water for agriculture and for drinking purposes in rural homes. * The legislation to promote rainwater harvesting was enacted through the Urban Development Authority (Amendment) Act, No. 36 of 2007.[15] * Lanka rainwater harvesting forum[16] is leading the Sri Lanka’s initiative. [edit]United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, water butts are often found in domestic gardens to collect rainwater, which is then used to water the garden. However, the British government’s Code For Sustainable Homes encourages fitting large underground tanks to new-build homes to collect rainwater for flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden, and washing cars. This reduces by 50% the amount of mains water used by the home. Traditional methods of rain water harvesting Pits :- Recharge pits are constructed for recharging the shallow aquifer. These are constructed 1 to 2 m, wide and to 3 m. deep which are back filled with boulders, gravels, coarse sand. Trenches:- These are constructed when the permeable stram is available at shallow depth. Trench may be 0.5 to 1 m. wide, 1 to 1.5m. deep and 10 to 20 m. long depending up availability of water. These are back filled with filter. materials.

Dug wells:- Existing dug wells may be utilised as recharge structure and water should pass through filter media before putting into dug well. Hand pumps :- The existing hand pumps may be used for recharging the shallow/deep aquifers, if the availability of water is limited. Water should pass through filter media before diverting it into hand pumps. Recharge wells :- Recharge wells of 100 to 300 mm. diameter are generally constructed for recharging the deeper aquifers and water is passed through filter media to avoid choking of recharge wells. Recharge Shafts :- For recharging the shallow aquifer which are located below clayey surface, recharge shafts of 0.5 to 3 m. diameter and 10 to 15 m. deep are constructed and back filled with boulders, gravels & coarse sand.

Lateral shafts with bore wells :- For recharging the upper as well as deeper aquifers lateral shafts of 1.5 to 2 m. wide & 10 to 30 m. long depending upon availability of water with one or two bore wells are constructed. The lateral shafts is back filled with boulders, gravels & coarse sand. Spreading techniques :- When permeable strata starts from top then this technique is used. Spread the water in streams/Nalas by making check dams, nala bunds, cement plugs, gabion structures or a percolation pond may be constructed.