RAINWATER HARVESTING AROUND THE WORLD

Rainwater harvesting is becoming a procedure that many Canadians are incorporating into
CANADA
their daily lives, although data does not give exact figures for
implementation. Rainwater can be used for a number of purposes
including stormwater reduction, irrigation, laundry and portable toilets. In addition to low
costs, rainwater harvesting is useful for landscape irrigation. Many Canadians have started
implementing rainwater harvesting systems for use in stormwater reduction, irrigation,
laundry, and lavatory plumbing. Provincial and municipal legislation is in place for
regulating the rights and uses for captured rainwater. Substantial reform to Canadian law
since the mid-2000s has increased the use of this technology in agricultural, industrial,
and residential use, but ambiguity remains amongst legislation in many provinces. Bylaws
A small rainwater harvesting tank in Quebec
and local municipal codes often regulate rainwater harvesting.

The velodrome of the London Olympic Park is
designed to harvest rainwater
UNITED KINGDOM
Rainwater harvesting in the United Kingdom is a practice of growing importance. Rainwater harvesting in
the UK is both a traditional and reviving technique for collecting water for domestic uses and is generally
used for non-hygienic purposes like watering gardens, flushing toilets, and washing clothes.  In commercial
premises like supermarkets it is used for things like toilet flushing where larger tank systems can be used
collecting between 1000 and 7500 litres of water. It is claimed that in the South East of England there is less
water available per person than in many Mediterranian countries.
Rainwater is almost always collected strictly from the roof, then heavily filtered using either a filter
attached to the down pipe, a fine basket filter or for more expensive systems like self-cleaning filters placed
in an underground tank. UK homes using some form of rainwater harvesting system can reduce their mains
water usage by 50% or more, although a 20-30% saving is more common. At the present time (depending
upon where you live in the UK) mains water delivery and equivalent waste water and sewerage processing
costs about £2 per cubic metre. Reducing mains-water metered volumes also reduces the sewerage and
sewage disposal costs in the same proportion, because water company billing assumes that all water taken
into the house is discharged into the sewers.
 RAINWATER HARVESTING IN INDIA
In India, rainwater harvesting has been in practice for more than 4000 years. It is basically a simple process
of accumulating and storing of rainwater. Rainwater harvesting systems, since ancient times, has been
applied as a supply for drinking water, water for irrigation, and water for livestock.
The systems are easy to construct from locally sourced inexpensive materials, and it has proved to be a
success in most areas. The prime advantage of rainwater is that the quality of water is usually good, and it
does not necessitate any treatment before consumption. Household rainfall catchments can significantly
contribute where the source of drinking water is contaminated and scarce.
Ranging from fairly simple to extremely complicated industrial systems, there are a variety of techniques
that can be used to harvest rainwater. Usually, rainwater is either harvested on a roof, or on the ground. The
Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting in India
rate at which rainwater can be collected from either of the two systems is entirely dependent on the intensity
of rainfall, the area of the systems in use, and its overall efficiency.

Tamil Nadu was the first state to make rainwater In Bangalore, of rainwater harvesting is mandatory for every owner or
TAMIL NADU

KARNATAKA
harvesting compulsory for every building to
avoid groundwater depletion. The project was launched
in 2001 and has been implemented in all rural areas of
Tamil Nadu. Posters all over Tamil Nadu including
rural areas create awareness about harvesting
rainwater. It gave excellent results within five years,
and slowly every state took it as a role model. Since its
implementation, Chennai had a 50% rise in water level
in five years and the water quality significantly
improved.
the occupier of a building having the site area measuring 60 ft × 40 ft
and above and for a newly constructed building measuring 30 ft ×
40 ft and above dimensions. In this regard, Bangalore Water Supply
and Sewage Board has initiated and constructed “Rain Water
Harvesting Theme Park” in the name of Sir M. Visvesvaraya in 1.2
acres of land situated at Jayanagar, Bangalore. In this park, 26
different types of rainwater harvesting models are demonstrated along
with the water conservation tips. The auditorium on the first floor is
set up with a "green" air conditioning system and will be used to
arrange the meeting and showing of a video clip about the rainwater
harvesting to students and the general public.