RAIN WATER HARVESTING

By
BENEDICT ROSARIO C
I MTECH RS & GIS
 WHAT IS RAIN WATER HARVESTING
•Rainwater harvesting is a type of saving the rain drops
which are collected and stored for the future use instead of
allowing them to run off.
•Rainwater can be collected from rivers or roofs and
redirected to a deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, a
reservoir with percolation, or collected from dew or fog
with nets or other tools.
•Water can be collected from roofs and tanks can be
constructed to hold large quantities of rainwater.
•Its uses include water for gardens, livestock, irrigation,
domestic use with proper treatment, indoor heating for
houses, etc.
• The harvested rain water can also be used as drinking
water, longer-term storage, and for other purposes such
as groundwater recharge.
•Rainwater harvesting is one of the simplest and oldest
methods of self-supply of water for households usually
financed by the user.
WHY WE NEED RAIN WATER HARVESTING ?

SUPPLEMENTAL IN DROUGHT :

•When drought occurs, rainwater harvested in past months

can be used. If rain is scarce but also unpredictable.
•The use of a rainwater harvesting system can be critical
to capturing the rain when it does fall.
• Even in periods of low rainfall, enough water is
collected for crops to grow.
INDEPENDENT WATER SUPPLY :

•Rainwater harvesting provides the independent water

supply during regional water restrictions.
•In areas where clean water is costly, or difficult to come
by, rainwater harvesting is a critical source of clean water.
•The harvesting of rainwater can also decrease a
household's water costs or overall usage levels.
LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT :
•Life-cycle assessment is a methodology used to
evaluate the environmental impacts of a system from
cradle to grave of its lifetime.
•The Idea is if the buildings are connected to a
combined sewer network compared to separate one the
savings in environmental emissions were higher.
•It play a critical roles in the environmental
performance of the system.
COMPONENTS OF A RAINWATER HARVESTING
SYSTEM :
•A rainwater harvesting system comprises components of
various stages - transporting rainwater through pipes or
drains, filtration, and storage in tanks for reuse or recharge.
The common components of a rainwater harvesting system
involved in these stages :
• Catchments
• Gutters
• Filter
• Storage facility
CATCHMENTS: 
•The catchment of a water harvesting system is the
surface which directly receives the rainfall and provides
water to the system.
•It can be a paved area like a terrace or courtyard of a
building, or an unpaved area like a lawn or open ground.
• A roof made of reinforced cement concrete (RCC),
galvanised iron or corrugated sheets can also be used for
water harvesting.
GUTTERS:
•Gutters can be semi-circular or rectangular and could be
made of channels all around the edge of a sloping roof to
collect and transport rainwater to the storage tank.
•Semi-circular gutters of PVC material can be readily
prepared by cutting those pipes into two equal semi-
circular channels.
•The size of the gutter should be according to the flow
during the highest intensity rain.
•Gutters need to be supported so they do not sag or fall off
FILTER :
•A filter is used to remove suspended pollutants from
rainwater collected over roof.
•A filter unit is a chamber filled with filtering media such
as fibre, coarse sand and gravel layers to remove debris
and dirt from water before it enters the storage tank or
recharge structure.
•Charcoal and sand can be added for additional
filtration.
CHARCOAL WATER FILTER :
A simple charcoal filter can be made in a drum or an
earthen pot. The filter is made of gravel and charcoal,
all of which are easily available.
SAND FILTERS :
Sand filters have commonly available sand as filter
media. Sand filters are easy and inexpensive to
construct.
These filters can be employed for treatment of water
to effectively remove turbidity (suspended particles
STORAGE FACILITY :
Various options are available to Store Rain
Water.

• Recharging of Dug wells and abandoned Tube wells

• Recharging of service Tube wells
• Recharge by Soakaway / Percolation pit
• Modified injection well
• Settlement tank
SIMPLE STRUCTURE OF RAIN WATER
HARVESTING SYSTEM :
SOME IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE STATES IN
RAIN WATER HARVESTING:
Tamil Nadu was the first state to make rainwater
harvesting compulsory for every building to
avoid groundwater depletion.
The scheme was launched in 2001 and has been create
awareness about harvesting rainwater and implemented in
all rural and urban areas of Tamil Nadu.
Since its implementation, Chennai had a 50% rise in
water level in five years have significantly improved.
•IN KARNATAKA :
• Bangalore Rainwater harvesting is mandatory for every
owner or the occupier of a building having the site area
measuring 60 ft (18.3 m) × 40 ft (12.2 m)  and above and
for newly constructed building measuring 30 ft (9.1 m) ×
40 ft (12.2 m) and above dimensions .
•IN MAHARASHTRA : 
•Pune Rainwater harvesting is compulsory for any new
housing society to be registered.
• Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai is planning to
THANK YOU