From parched to plenty: Rainwater harvesters celebrate filling wells, sumps

Bengaluru: The city's summer water woes are finally over, thanks to a double dose of relief: May's pre-monsoon showers and the record-breaking rainfall we've seen this past week.

With most wells, tanks, and sumps brimming after the rains, the investments in well rejuvenation and rainwater harvesting (RWH) seem to be paying off. So much so that experts believe the establishments need not depend on Cauvery water or groundwater for the next 10 days.

"Most of the open wells we revived have been full and many houses that have implemented the RWH systems have told us that their sumps are full and overflowing. If just a few early showers can help the city so much, imagine the benefits of harvesting rainwater throughout the season,” said Vishwanath S, a water conservation expert.

If good rains continue, houses and establishments with RWH systems can survive with harvested water for at least 150 days this year, added Shivananda RS, a water management expert from Biome Environment Trust.

"Our well rejuvenation efforts and the installation of rainwater harvesting systems are showing great results,” Shivananda said.

"Many wells and homes with RWH systems are now nearly full. Just one heavy rainfall could provide them with over 10 days of water. With good rains throughout the monsoon season (around 60 days), these systems could potentially sustain households and businesses for up to 150 days."

Households cautious enough to set up RWH systems benefitted from last week’s rains.

Since April, the time when the water crisis began to peak, the demand for RWH systems and recharge wells soared with rising awareness levels.

"I have a 10,000-litre capacity sump and a well. Heavy rains last week have left the sump full. The well, where water levels fell by nearly three feet in the summer, has also been revived since the water overflowed from the sump to the well,” said Raghuram, a resident of Vidyaranyapura.

Good rains till October will help him sustain till February without having to depend on any other water source, Raghuram added.

Experts, in fact, believed that reduced dependency on groundwater, coupled with more recharging pits, will also help the city reclaim the groundwater levels that plummeted due to last year’s poor monsoon.

“If the number of establishments depending on rainwater increases, groundwater recharge will also be faster and we can expect the groundwater levels to go up sooner,” Shivananda said.