"Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself." - John Dewey "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." - Aristotle "The highest education is that which doesn't merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence." - Rabindranath Tagore "It is the lot of man to share in the deeper aspirations of the universe around him and to share his own destiny as well as that of the universe, now by adjusting himself to its forces, now by putting the whole of his energy to his own ends and purposes." - Sir Muhammad Iqbal (RA) Image NEW JKPSC Assistant Professor Previous Year Papers PDF | NEW Syllabus for the post of Assistant Professor Renewable Energy in Higher Education Department published by JKPSC | NEW Syllabus for Post of Assistant professor in Environmental science JKPSC - 2023 in Higher Education Department | NEW Top 10 questions of Environmental Science in 2023-2024

Rainwater harvesting

 

INTRODUCTION

The term ‘rainwater harvesting’ appears to have originated from the word ‘harvesting’, used to cover all agricultural activities involving cutting, reaping, picking and gathering of grain of value from any fully-grown crop. Rainwater harvesting may be defined as any human activity involving collection and storage of rainwater in some natural or artificial container either for immediate use or use before the onset of the next monsoon.

Rainwater harvesting is the capture, diversion, and storage of rainwater for a number of different purposes including landscape irrigation, drinking and domestic use, aquifer recharge, and storm water abatement. In a residential or small-scale application, rainwater harvesting can be as simple as channeling rain running off an unguttered roof to a planted landscape area via contoured landscape. To prevent erosion on sloped surfaces, a bermed concave holding area own slope can store water for direct use by turf grass or plants (Waterfall, 1998).

Archeological evidence attests to the capture of rainwater as far back as 4,000 years ago, and the concept of rainwater harvesting in China may date back 6,000 years. Ruins of cisterns built as early as 2000 B.C. for storing runoff from hillsides for agricultural and domestic purposes are still standing in Israel (Gould and Nissen-Petersen, 1999).

Rainwater collected from the roofs of houses, tents and local institutions can make an important contribution to the availability of drinking water. Water collected from the ground, sometimes from areas which are especially prepared for this purpose, is called Storm water harvesting. Rainwater harvesting is the process of augmenting the natural filtration of rainwater in to the underground formation by some artificial methods. Or simply "Conscious collection and storage of rainwater to cater the demands of water, for drinking, domestic purpose & irrigation is termed as Rainwater Harvesting."

Roof rainwater can be of good quality and may not require treatment before consumption. Although some rooftop materials may produce rainwater that is harmful to human health, it can be useful in flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden and washing cars; these uses alone halve the amount of water used by a typical home. Household rainfall catchment systems are appropriate in areas with an average rainfall greater than 200 mm (7.9 in) per year, and no other accessible water sources (Skinner and Cotton, 1992).

            As the water crisis continues to become severe, there is a dire need of reform in water management system and revival of traditional systems. Scientific and technological studies need to be carried out to assess present status so as to suggest suitable mitigative measures for the revival to traditional system/wisdom. Revival process should necessarily be backed by people's initiative and active public participation.

Previous Post Next Post