	*A NEW BEGINNING*
	Forging ties
	WATER LITERACY
	Informing people Water play The facilitator Water Gala

	*IN FOCUS*
	Faulty perceptions Thirst rises, patience evaporates
	URBAN WETLANDS
	Eviction ordered Join the BIG fight Citizens pick up cudgels Solar lakes

	*WATER MANAGEMENT*
	South India: Searching for an identity Thailand: Then came progress....
	INITIATIVE
	An eye opener Naudihi’s revival Tankas of Badi Ghodan Dialogue
	CSE'S LATEST DESIGNS
	Sri Aurobindo Ashram’s system
	TECHNOLOGY
	Rice husk ash filter Clay pot irrigation
	JAL YODHAS
	Sachidanand Bharti Madhu Bhatnagar
	TRADITION
	Naullahs of Kumaon
	WATER IN NEWS
	Kerala, building up its jalanidhi Schemes or scams?
	GREEN WATER HARVESTER'S NEWS
	Saving lives Rain associations Review
	CLASSROOM
	Drop by drop Water scramble
	FUNDING AGENCY
	Oxfam and water
	BASIC FACT
	3RD WATER FORUM
	100 promises, deadline 2006 The landmarks Changing currents

	BOOK/DOCUMENTS
	READERS SPACE
	WEB INFO
	EVENT

Catch Water

Vol. 5

No. 2

April-May 2003

Sri Aurobindo Ashram's system

Sri Aurobindo Ashram's System To stop even a drop of rain from flowing out of its campus,Mother’s International School, New Delhi, approached CSE for technical guidance. "We went for one of CSE’s miscellaneous services in 2002, and realised the need to extend the water works done in 1995 to the entire campus, covering an area of over 95,870 square meters (sq m)", informed PLBhola, vice principal of the Mother’s International School, located within the Aurobindo campus. Expressing concern he said that, "The water table is around 27.4 meters (m) below ground level, and we do not want situation to deteriorate any further".

CSE designed the RWH system. The works have recently completed at the total cost of Rs 4 lakh. The entire campus that has the annual potential of harnessing about 16,366 cubic meters (cu m) of runoff from surface and rooftop has been effectively tapped.

Find out the cost of implementing RWH system from:

R K Srinivasan / Saluddin Saiphy, Every Friday (2 -6 pm) at:
India Habitat Centre,
Core 6A, Fourth Floor,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003
Tel:011-26645334/5
E-mail: water@cseindia.org

The designs ensure that the roofwater from all the four buildings within the campus - Mirambika School, Mother’s International School, Tapsasya and their office block gets collected for recharge in an integrated manner.

The runoff from Mirambika is diverted to a dry open well (about 18 meter (m) deep) through a network of pipes and collection chambers. The runoff from northern side of Mother’s International building gets accumulated in the three collection chambers. Then, after passing through a filtering media made of sand and pebbles, it is diverted to a recharge borewell (about 16 m deep). From the southern side, the water is diverted to a recharge well. Similarly, from the other two buildings, rainwater is channelised to an abandoned borewell.

The surface runoff from the unpaved (playground) and paved grounds (power station etc) is also collected and used for recharge. Sri Aurobindo Ashram is one of CSE’s upcoming model projects.

For details:
PLBhola, Vice Principal
Mothers International School
Tel: 26524817, 26865400

Rice husk ash filter

Rice husk ash filter The incidence of water borne diseases has drastically reduced in the 180 households of Pusane village, Pune district. However, a few years back, the village was plagued with such problems. All this changed, as they started using the rice husk ash-based water filter designed by Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC), a division of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). It is a simple and low cost method to provide safe drinking water.

The filtering medium is made up of rice husk ash (RHA), which is abundantly available in rural India. RHA contains activated silica and carbon that helps in removing colour, odour, suspended particles and microorganisms. Cement is used as the binder while pebbles support the matrix. The filter has two parts. Its top portion is made of food grade plastic material (a form of plastic approved to keep food items) - costing Rs 150. It can be reused after the expiry of the filter element's life (6 to 8 months) by replacing the filter bed. The cost of such replacement is Rs 25. The lower part of the filter could be any container of the user's choice. TRDCC does not manufacture or sell the filters. Sevalaya in Chennai and Indian Institute of Youth Welfare in Nagpur are some of the organisations promoting it as well. Till date, more than 4,200 filters have been installed, with encouraging results.

For details:
Dr Kalyan K Das,
TRCDDC, kkdas@pune.tcs.co.in

Techno titbits

Clay pot irrigation

It is a form of irrigation that is easy to install, operate and maintain.

The water is stored in the clay pots, which are buried in the ground. And, slowly the water is released to the plants. This system can either include an individual pot or a series of pots connected with a plastic tube. The pots used are similar to the ones used in homes for storing water and can hold 10 to 12 litres of water. After a period of six months the pots need replacement. The technique allows for an economical use of water, since loss due to percolation and surface runoff is eliminated. Despite being one of the oldest irrigation methods, it is still popular with the small family farms — growing vegetables and fruits. In many Latin American countries, the government is using this technique to combat poverty.