WATER HARVESTING MANAGEMENT

Rain Water Harvesting is a way to capture the rain water when it rains, store that water above ground or
charge the underground and use it later. This happens naturally in open rural areas. It is a method which
has been used since ancient times and is increasingly being accepted as a practical method of providing
potable water in development projects throughout the world. It has wide application also in urban and
peri-urban areas where the reliability and quality of piped water is increasingly being questioned

Traditionally, rainwater harvesting has been practised in arid and semi-arid areas, and has provided
drinking water, domestic water, water for livestock, water for small irrigation and a way to replenish
groundwater levels. This method may have been used extensively by the Indus Valley Civilization. .
Currently in China and Brazil, rooftop rainwater harvesting is being practised for use for all the above
purposes.

Rainwater harvesting in urban areas can have manifold reasons. To provide supplemental water for the
city's requirement, to increase soil moisture levels for urban greenery, to increase the ground water
table through artificial recharge, to mitigate urban flooding and to improve the quality of groundwater
are some of the reasons why rainwater harvesting can be adopted in cities. In urban areas of the
developed world, at a household level, harvested rainwater can be used for flushing toilets and washing
laundry.

Indeed in hard water areas it is superior to mains water for this. It can also be used for showering or
bathing. It may require treatment prior to use for drinking.

Ways To Harvest Water

Capturing runoff from rooftops

Capturing runoff from local catchments

Capturing seasonal floodwaters from local streams

Conserving water through watershed management

In general, water harvesting is the activity of direct collection of rainwater. The rainwater collected can
be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the groundwater. Rain is the first form of water that we
know in the hydrological cycle, hence is a primary source of water for us. Rivers, lakes and groundwater
are all secondary sources of water. In present times, we depend entirely on such secondary sources of
water. In the process, it is forgotten that rain is the ultimate source that feeds all these secondary
sources and remains ignorant of its value. Water harvesting means to understand the value of rain, and
to make optimum use of the rainwater at the place where it falls

BENEFITS

Provide drinking water

Provide irrigation water

Increase groundwater recharge

Reduce stormwater discharges, urban floods and overloading of sewage treatment plants
Reduce seawater ingress in coastal areas