Not a drop to waste...

The advantages of harvesting rainwater are obvious — these systems are easy to install, don’t cost a lot and require minimum scientific expertise. Neither do they demand much maintenance after installation.

Metrolife speaks to a few people who have been harvesting rainwater to find out how they have taken to it.

The principle behind a rainwater harvesting system is simple.

All it requires is a catchment area, generally a terrace, which is sometimes protected with a mesh to prevent debris from flowing in.

Water is routed from here to a storage unit like a sump or a tank through channels, and then pumped into individual homes. Filtering devices are generally installed in the channels as well as the sump.

Surjya, a resident of Hoodi, had a rainwater harvesting system installed this July in the apartment complex where he lives.

As the secretary of the block, he believed that it was his duty to prevent any wastage of water.

“Earlier, we drew water from a borewell. We had about 20,000 square feet of space on the terrace that was simply going waste. So we felt it would be better to install a rainwater harvesting system,” he explains.

His model routes water directly to a sump, from which it is pumped to each flat.

Very happy with this decision, Surjya explains that recovering the cost of installation was easy.

“The entire system is working very well. Two hours of heavy rain provides enough water for all 76 flats for an entire day,” he says.

And as if this isn’t enough, he adds, “I don’t foresee any large maintenance costs for the system either.”

B S Seshadri, the building manager of an apartment complex in Richard’s Town, agrees that taking to harvesting rainwater was extremely beneficiary for the residents.

 “We installed the system last September, as it was mandatory as per the rules of the BWSSB, and I’m very thankful that we did so. We have simply built a well in the garden to collect water, as well as a sump that is 12 feet underground,” explains Seshadri.

This water is employed for watering the garden and washing the residents’ cars, and greatly reduces the usage of borewell water by the entire apartment
community.

According to him, there are no disadvantages whatsoever to the system.
“It does have some initial cost, but this is barely anything compared to the benefits. Moreover, it isn’t tough to maintain. In fact, we’re considering setting up another tank,” he says.

S Vishwanath, the founder of the Rainwater Club, an organisation that helps spread awareness about the designs and implementation of harvesting systems, believes that these techniques are finding more takers these days because it’s hard to
ignore the many benefits they offer.

He says, “The price of installing these systems isn’t very high. If the system is being integrated into a new house, it will hardly cost Rs 5,000 to 7,000. If it is being built from scratch, the cost still won’t cross Rs 25,000. And a 100-square-metre terrace area is enough to provide one lakh litres of rainwater.”

Apart from these, he adds that general awareness about harvesting methods has also been spread. “More people are concerned about water now,” he adds.