Rainwater Harvesting Draft

By Rajavarman 12 c

Introduction to Rainwater Harvesting

1) Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the

practice of collecting and storing
rainwater for future use. This technique
has been employed for centuries and is
particularly vital in regions with irregular
rainfall or limited access to fresh water.
In today's context, with increasing
pressure on water resources due to
population growth, urbanization, and
climate change, rainwater harvesting
has emerged as a sustainable solution to
mitigate water scarcity and promote
efficient water use.
 2) World’s population has been constantly
increasing and so has the water
demand. However,
supplies from water resources are limited and
estimated to be 2% from the total available
water in nature.
CAUSES TO HARVEST RAINWATER
 It is not going to be long before the
price of water is going to be
morevaluable than theprice of gold.
With drought becoming
morewidespread and climate change
wreaking havoc everywhere,
findingfresh and good ground water
to drink is getting harder. So why
aren’tmore people looking to the sky?
After all, water comes from there,too!
 If we are going to waste water as
people are doing right now, I think
itwill be very difficult in coming
time to even get safe water for
drinking.Rainwater harvesting is a
way of saving and
consuming rainwater which otherwise
is not clean and safe to use

 Major parts of our country have been

facing continuous failure of monsoon
and consequent deficit of rainfall over
the last few years

 It is imperative to take adequate

measures to meet the drinking
water needs of the people in the
 county besides irrigation and
domesticneeds

Importance of Rainwater Harvesting

1. **Water Conservation**: RWH reduces the

dependency on conventional water supply
systems, conserving valuable resources for
other essential uses.
2. **Economic Benefits**: It lowers water bills
and reduces the need for costly infrastructure
to transport water.
3. **Environmental Impact**: By reducing
runoff, RWH helps in preventing soil erosion
and mitigating the risk of floods. It also
decreases the burden on stormwater drainage
systems.
4. **Groundwater Recharge**: Harvested
rainwater can be used to replenish
groundwater levels, ensuring a sustainable
supply of water for agricultural and domestic
needs.
5. **Adaptation to Climate Change**: RWH
systems provide a buffer against the
unpredictability of weather patterns, ensuring
water availability during dry periods.

Types of Rainwater Harvesting Systems

1. **Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting**: This

involves collecting rainwater that falls on
rooftops and channeling it through gutters
and pipes into storage tanks or directly into
the ground.
2. **Surface Runoff Harvesting**: This method
captures rainwater flowing on the ground,
directing it into ponds, reservoirs, or
underground tanks.
3. **Groundwater Recharge**: Techniques
such as recharge pits, trenches, and
boreholes help direct rainwater back into
aquifers, thus enhancing groundwater levels.

Economic Perspectives

From an economic standpoint, rainwater

harvesting presents several benefits:

1. **Cost Savings**: Reduced expenditure on

water procurement and treatment, especially
in urban areas where water supply
infrastructure is extensive and expensive.
2. **Agricultural Productivity**: Reliable water
supply through RWH can boost agricultural
yields, contributing to food security and
farmers' income.
3. **Reduced Public Expenditure**:
Governments can save on investments in
large-scale water infrastructure projects by
promoting decentralized water harvesting
techniques.
4. **Employment Generation**:
Implementation and maintenance of RWH
systems create job opportunities in local
communities, promoting economic growth.

Challenges and Solutions

Despite its advantages, rainwater harvesting

faces several challenges:

1. **Initial Costs**: The setup of RWH systems

can be expensive, though this can be
mitigated through subsidies and financial
incentives.
2. **Maintenance**: Regular maintenance is
required to ensure the systems function
effectively, which can be managed through
community training and involvement.
3. **Public Awareness**: Lack of awareness
and misconceptions about RWH need to be
addressed through education and outreach
programs.

Contemporary Relevance and Advantages

of Rainwater Harvesting

Jackson gave many reasons for the relevancy

of recent adoption of using rainwater
harvesting to overcome the increasing
demand of water beside the global weather
changes.
These reasons are over half of the accessible
freshwater runoff globally is already
appropriated for human use; more than 1
billion of people currently lack access to clean
drinking water and almost 3 billion of people
lack basic sanitation services; because the
human population will grow faster than
increases in the amount of accessible
freshwater (per
capita availability of freshwater will decrease
in the coming century); climate change will
cause a general intensification of the earth’s
hydrological cycle in the next 100 years, with
generally increased precipitation,
evapotranspiration, occurrence of storms and
significant
changes in biogeochemical processes
influencing water quality. In the next 30
years,
projected increase in the population is much
higher than the percentage of accessible run
off
during the same period. Under such
circumstances, harvesting rain shall be
crucial. Recently,
impacts of population growth, development,
and climate-change and global warming on
natural water resources systems are
becoming clearly visible. So, efforts are
needed to
encourage innovative policy including
managing the water demand and promoting
rainwater
harvesting system. Traditionally, such
systems have been integrated with agro-
forestry and
ethno-forestry practices, and remain useful in
contemporary conservation and ecological
restoration of degraded ecosystems. A
systematic support to local innovations on
rainwater
harvesting could provide substantial amounts
of water and reduce demand on water supply
systems.

Domestic Usage of Rainwater Harvesting

Presently, the water supply systems have

improved but the demand is increasing due to
the
population growth, and development. The
prolonged dry period due global weather
change
can be considered as another factor effecting
water supply. The available water resources
are
limited and/or seasonal, which made the
experts working in the water sector to search
for
solutions to the water shortage. Many
countries around the world are facing water
shortages.
Optimization of water usage and the
conservation of water as a natural resource
can help to
overcome water shortage. Rainwater can be
used for potable and non-potable uses. The
potable uses include drinking, bathing, and
cooking and dish wash. Usually the rainwater
used this purpose must be treated to remove
the contaminants. Non-potable uses include
flushing toilets, watering garden and washing
floor and treatment of rainwater is not
required
for this purpose.
 KSTUDY
Rainwater Harvesting System
A rainwater harvesting system was installed at the Faculty of
Engineering, Universiti Putra
Malaysia and the main objectives from the system installation
are to determine the optimum
tank size and to study the quality of the collected rainwater.
The components of the system
are roof catchment (100 m2), first flush unit, steel tank, PVC
pipes (150 mm diameter), and
treatment unit. In the present study, special emphasis will be
given for volume of collected
water for different rain events. Table 1 shows various
parameters in rainwater samples
collected from down pipe of the system. Most of the
parameters are within the acceptable
range but some are higher than the acceptable range
especially the heavy metals. The
collected volumes of rainwater in the tank of the system were
fluctuated. Figure 2 shows
variation of collected rainwater volumes in the tank for 20
different rain events. It was
observed that the maximum volume of the collected
rainwater was 2 m3 while the minimum
volume was 0.17 m3. This can give indication about the size
of the tank to be used with the
rainwater harvesting system for a house. On the other hand,
the consumption of water form
three washrooms (toilets) located at the faculty of
Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia was
monitored using flow meters. The maximum water
consumption was found to be 1.82 m3.
The storage of the rainwater in the tank is compared with the
consumption of water for nonpotable
uses (water consumption in the washrooms) and it found that
the storage higher than
the consumption in many times. However, it found that the
storage was either equal or lower
than the consumption in another times as shown in Figure 3
Table 1 : Tested parameters in rainwater
samples
Conclusion

Rainwater harvesting is a viable and essential

strategy for sustainable water management.
By integrating RWH into urban and rural
planning, we can ensure a resilient water
supply, promote economic development, and
protect the environment. As we face
increasing water challenges in the 21st
century, harnessing the potential of rainwater
harvesting will be crucial for achieving
sustainable development goals and ensuring
water security for future generations.
Demand on water resources witness a
substantial increase due to development,
population
increase, and global weather change.
Adopting the concept of sustainability and
conservation of water resources can help to
cope with the global water shortage.
Promotion
of rainwater harvesting technique for
domestic, landscaping, and agriculture can
help to
reduce the demand on water resources.
Rainwater harvesting systems used in housing
schemes can provide water for potable and
non-potable uses. The potable uses include
drinking, bathing, and cooking and dish wash.
Usually the rainwater used for this purpose
must be treated to remove the contaminants
and generally the main required treatment
processes are filtration and disinfection unless
the rainwater contain heavy metals, then
special treatment is required. Non-potable
uses of rainwater harvesting include flushing
toilets, watering garden, and washing floors
and for such uses treatment is not required.
The
quantity of the rainwater collected is different
from place to place depending on the weather