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Karmayogi
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Something to think about (September 2009) -
By Gaurang Damani
Successful "Rain Water Harvesting" implementation
In this age of
water shortages, the young committee members of Avanti Niketan CHS (Sion,
Mumbai) have successfully implemented a basic "Rain water harvesting" (RWH)
system.
For basic
theory of RWH, please visit:
http://www.diehardindian.com/thoughts/oct2006.htm
and
http://www.diehardindian.com/thoughts/dec2006.htm
Basics of
the project:
-
In theory,
Avanti society can collect from its terrace about 8-10 lakh liters of pure
rainwater in the entire monsoon season (average Mumbai monsoon of 72
inches per annum).
-
A detailed
water usage audit was carried out, wherein a clear picture emerged on
water usage in each segment of the society (For eg. a typical society uses
about 35% of its total water in flush tanks!)
-
A basic RWH
system was implemented in 2007, but then, water was transferred into an
existing bavdi (well). Since a lot of Sion-Matunga used to be salt pan
land and is also close to the creek, the salt content was high. So,
basically ground water re-charge was not working out. Then it was decided
to use the existing underground water storage capacity of the society
(This is separate from drinking water tank).
How it was
done?
-
Water from
the terrace of the building was channelized through water pipes into that
storage tank, after basic filtering.
-
A lot of
difficulties were overcome viz. choice of faulty vendor; PVC pipes
cracking due to pressure from vehicle movement; pipes choking due to dirt
collection; etc. It was decided to do it without the help of any vendors.
Benefits:
-
This
collected rainwater is being used for washing cars, cleaning building
floor tiles and at servant's toilets.
-
This
rainwater covers about 3% of our total water usage (only for the 4 monsoon
months). But since water storage for ground usage is now separated, we can
use a cheaper water tanker as opposed to the expensive one.
-
This water
is pumped from the underground tank to a smaller Sintex 5,000 liter tank,
for ease of use.
-
The total
cost was a little over Rs 100,000, and expected return on investment is 3
years.
-
As next
steps, the society may plan to capture water from the entire plot
(theoretically about 1 crore liters!) and transfer into a ring well
(reinforced bavdi)
For more
details on how to implement the same, in your society, please feel free to
contact:
Llyomesh
Takwani (98336-27827)
Paresh Shah (98920-39244)
Suresh Kakarla (98198-03620) - after 4 pm
RWH is the
need of the hour, as water resources in Mumbai continue to be scarce.
Thanks and
Regards,
Die Hard Indian -Gaurang Damani
93226-58196
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