Are we serious about Rainwater Harvesting?

[Suresh]

For enough has been said and written about the benefits of rainwater harvesting but I still fail to see any serious takers for it. While the benefits of rainwater harvesting are proclaimed every year from every rooftop (pun intended), the percentage that actually implements it I fear to say is very low.

D&D Ecotech, has been in the RWH business for more than 2 years now, and during the time I have had the good fortune to meet varied clients right from bungalow owners to steel factory companies. Presentations have been made to Managing Directors and Managing Committees on how a onetime investment can give them benefits for a lifetime, but still there are no takers.

What could be the actual reason many companies back out from the same. I'd like to share a few thoughts on the same based on our experience.


Lack of approach by senior management

Going green is the new mantra nowadays and many CSR depts (yes they do exist) depute their youngest trainees and joinees to prepare a report on how the company should go green (perhaps it’s to give them some work to do). These young trainees in all their enthusiasm start researching the web (where else) for all they can learn about going green. Here's where rainwater harvesting catches their attention and they call us for detailed presentations and discussions along with site visits. A process that takes 1-2 months by when they are fairly inducted into the company and deputed to handle bigger and better projects, while the tedious report prepared by the trainee remains just a report till someone else joins and is given the task again as the report is now old and so the cycle continues.

A solution to this, its time companies deputed senior officers if they are really serious about rainwater harvesting or else it will remain only on paper.


How will we get the water we recharge into the ground

Love thy neighbor no longer seems one of the commandments as companies today want to know how will groundwater recharging affect their bottom-lines. Most of the companies want the groundwater recharge process to benefit them directly, with every drop of water being accounted for. Something I am afraid no one can guarantee. With no immediate direct benefit visible, the plans then remain only on paper.


Why does it cost so much

While plants and machineries are justifiable costs for their direct relation with productivity and output, a rainwater harvesting structure seems very expensive in comparison, no matter that it’s made from the same brick n mortar that their factories are made of. The logic being that if some thing is not giving immediate benefits then it should cost less. Right?

Well we have no answer to this and just hope that better sense prevails.

 

 

Govt. benefits for RWH remaining only on paper.

 

Rebate on property taxes and water bills for those who implement rainwater harvesting have been proposed and discussed many times, by many city municipal corporations with Mumbai being a prime example. But when it comes to actually implementing it and passing on the benefits I’m afraid the answer is a big NO.

 

How can citizens then be expected to do something, when the Govt. fails to back them. Many housing society Chairman’s I had the pleasure of meeting had this question foremost in mind. “How much rebate can they expect from the Govt. in property taxes & water bills” the answer to which I am still seeking from the powers that be. 

 

Delhi is the only city I am aware of where the Govt. is offering a Rs. 1 lakh grant for residential complexes implementing RWH. As a result many residential complexes have taken up RWH on a war footing over there.

 

Lack of proper awareness

 

Yes unbelievable though it sounds, there is still not enough awareness about RWH among companies and residential complexes. The reason is simple apart from a few websites there is no public knowledge available about RWH. There are no demonstration centres dedicated to rainwater harvesting where one could actually see RWH system being implemented and the benefits of different systems and filters.

 

Many questions exist in the minds of consumers for ex- Is rainwater drinkable, will it stain the toilets etc. for which there are no answers available easily. As a result people put on hold their RWH plans.

 

Summary

 

If we as a nation are serious about rainwater harvesting and its benefits then we need to give it due importance and take serious steps towards implementing the same. A separate ministry under the water ministry could be setup to aggressively push rainwater harvesting and also create awareness about it.

 

Corporates too need to realise the long term benefits of RWH and ensure compliance in their factories and office buildings. They need to realise that an investment in the environment is equally important if not more as their investment in factories and offices. Corporates can also sponsor RWH projects in return for branding rights, thus helping save rainwater while at the same time benefiting by brand awareness.

 

Otherwise a time may come when there will be water wars due to shortage of water and we will repent not having paid attention to rainwater harvesting when the opportunity was there.

 

Hope this article serves as a wakeup call.

[Sangeeta Deogawanka]

Thanks for laying it out so well. Unfortunately, the right people, the decision-makers do not visit such advocacy sites. Anyway, they know it all, but prefer a ostrich-in-the-sand attitude for as long as it takes.

Its we the civic society who has to undertake more such projects in tandem with the scientific community.....no use playing blame games!

Hope so too, that this article wakes up some doers.

[Suresh]

You are right Sangeeta.. guess just need to spread the word around.

[Yash D Shah]

Rain Water is the only fresh water source available on this planet. None of the rivers would have even existed if there were no rain. the water that we drink is the rain water. Rain Water must be harvested for consumption & not only for raising the ground water table.

All the natural water are accessible by drilling a borewell / Tube well. One has to understand that The rain water can be charged into the formation only if the Underground water source is available, if there are no source, no charging is possible, we are simply draining the water into the borewell & almost all the water is going back to the drain, without getting charged into the formation.

Implementing Rain Water Harvesting project may not be cheap, but, they must be result oriented, if the amount spent on the project is recoverable in the maximum span of one years time, against the life time cost of procuring water from the governments & Municipal corporations etc. & the water for secondary uses (major water consumption is for secondary uses) is available at almost no cost then corporates should not hesitate for spending on such vital projects.

[Somnath Malgar]

Implementing rain water harvesting project is not cheap but it is very much neded now, but main thing is that we are just talking talking but not serious regarding imlemention.

 

 

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

We are not at all interested. In fact the crusader Rajendra Singh was harassed by Administration while we considered him as mad fellow till he was awarded.Thanks for note...I would like to share it with my friends.

[Harjindarpal Singh]

You are very much right in what you have written, myself is dedicated to this subject and propagating it from my own means without any outside help.Since last four years I have done many projects , made many presentations and submitted (wasted paper) on quoting to industries etc. But the net outcome is that people opt for this only due to some legislation regarding getting NOC rest people are selfish that what guarantee is that it will benefit their well or borewell. Here people spend lakhs and lakhs to decorate the bathrooms and opt for having another deep bore while the water table decreases but will never think of getting RWH done in the premises .

[Suresh]

Hi Mr. Singh,

 

I face the same issues and problems that you seem to be facing, hence my thought " Are people really serious abour rainwater harvesting".

 

I have tried many different mailers and creative ideas but the ansswer is the same that you get... what gaurantee is that they will benefit..

 

Looks like we have to try some other way to awaken them.

[MANAS RANJAN PANIGRAHI]

MOST OF THE AWARENESS ARE ONLY FOR THE SAME DAY. EVERY THING ELSE IS THE WORK OF PEN AND PAPER!!!!

HUMANS DO CAMPAIGNS ONLY FOR FILLING THEIR POCKET......

THEY ARE UNAWARE OF THE CONSEQUENCES THAT WILL ARISE DUE TO THEIR ACTIVITIES, AND WHICH CANNOT BE REVERSED BACK....

ITS UP TO THEM TO LIVE OR TO LOOSE.

[BIJAYA NANDA DAS]

A lip service yet .No sincere effort

Dr b n das

[MANAS RANJAN PANIGRAHI]

YOU R RIGHT! ITS A LIP AND TONGUE SERVICE. NONE EFFORTS ARE MADE TO BRING IT TO PRACTICAL. CONCEPTS REMAIN AS THEORY ONLY ... READ IT FORGET IT...

BIJAYA NANDA DAS said:

A lip service yet .No sincere effort

Dr b n das

[Harish]

PLEASE STOP RAINWATER HARVESTING FOR THE SAKE OF ENVIRONMENT. Sounds foolish?
Everyone is water expert. Be it economist, sociologist, historian etc. Most of the people thinks they do great service to the society if they harvest rainwater. It’s ok as long as you store it on surface. But if you are thinking to recharge aquifer then you are most likely deteriorating aquifer. Once Aquifer gets contaminated it is really very difficult to remediate that. If you thinking about recharging aquifers then one should really know hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry then you can think of aquifer recharge. It is highly scientific and technical job. Honestly speaking there is not a single university/Institute in India where one can get degree on above mentioned subject. But when people don’t find job in their subject they find easier to become water/groundwater expert and start prophesying Rain Water harvesting.
Govt of India launched scheme of dugwell recharge in seven states . This was done on the behest of one of the Magsaysay awardees. The idea was to collect runoff from the agricultural filed and put that into the existing dugwell. Initially Cost of that project was ????crores. Any sane man knows what kinds of pesticides and fertiliser are being used and where it goes. No pilot study was done to assess the impact on groundwater quality. Even if govt ask to do WQ analysis nothing will come out because …… But people are very happy that they are getting money (Rs 8k for SC/ST and 4K for others). They are really looking forward for another great scheme so that they can meet some other expenses.
When you put water (rooftop/ road/garden/agricultural field runoff) it carries lots contamination. Many of them are carcinogenic.  If u know how pharmaceutical and cosmetics products are being produced and where it is being consumed we all know. Their ultimate fate is get mixed in groundwater.
Here are few suggestion :
First carryout hydrochemical modelling of source water and groundwater. This tells you what kind of hazard your aquifer is likely to face. Depending on pH and Eh various reaction/bacterial reactions takes place and ultimately reduce the effective porosity. This will
Before constructing rainwater harvesting structure make simulation model of groundwater flow. This will help you how and when you can extract the water you have recharged. You can actually visualize the movement pattern of recharged water. In some case where hydraulic conductivity is high you won’t be able to recover.
In my opinion quality comes first then comes quantity . Otherwise we have so much water in ocean. So I would request think twice before recharging aquifer. SAVE AQUIFERS.