Catch Water Newsletter 4


	*CAMPAIGN*
	Slums capture rainwater
	*NETWORK*
	Quality matters
	*INITIATIVE*
	More than willing
	*TECHNOLOGY*
	Designs for water harvesting and purification

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Vol. 1 No. 4 October 1999

More than willing

A survey by the Delhi state government reveals that the people are more than willing to manage their own water resources to reduce the present crisis.

In an effort to assess the willingness of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to assume responsibilities and involve themselves in various issues associated with local self-governance, the state government distributed about 1000 questionnaires to various RWAs in Delhi. The message of the first 100 responses that came was loud and clear: involve us and make the departments accountable. The four main departments that the RWAs wanted to get involved with, included the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Department of Environment and Forests.

Concerning water, the replies manifested the anguish of the people and their willingness to act. Their aspiration is to manage water at a decentralised and pliant level.

As many as 81 percent of the RWAs want the DJB to assist in installation of water harvesting structures as well as devising incentive mechanisms to popularise the use of non-potable water for gardening, washing and other nondomestic purposes. As many as 89 per cent want to be involved in the deployment of water tankers in their colonies.

On its part, the DJB is planning to harvest the rain that falls on the roof of its headquarters Varunlaya, in Delhi. The Board proposes to use the headquarters as a site for a pilot project. The plans include collecting the water, passing it through a trap and into a borewell for groundwater recharge. Plans to spread awareness about rooftop water harvesting are also underway.

Designs for water harvesting and purification

Solamar International Incorporation is based in Arizona state in USA. They are involved in devising methods to provide clean and healthy drinking water.

The Solamar Emerex
Is a portable system, embodying convenient and easily workable methods for water purification towards safe drinking water. Apart from cities and rural areas, the system is designed to store, treat and dispense drinking water in special situations like epidemics, disasters and refugee sites, in the absence of a well

An artist's impression of Solamar Watershed Network

established supply of clean drinking water. The system consists, of a container and a mixer. The container, with capacity ranging from 10 - 2000 litres, can be made from plastic, cement, wood or any other locally available material. The size of the water container may be modified to suit a variety of user conditions from personal to community use. The mixer is an inexpensive plastic hand-operated stirrer designed to introduce disinfectants, special medications or supplements in the water. A spigot may withdraw the treated water otherwise siphoned or dipped out. Solamar strongly recommends the incorporation of trained personnel in the storage, purification and distribution system, for proclaiming safe and practical directives in promoting potable water and public health issues.

The Solamar Watershed Network
Is based on the simple concept of collection and storage of rainwater for dry periods, when the need for water is critical. It is designed to provide water for agricultural, livestock and human requirements. The system consists of a central collector and a surrounding catchment that feeds into it.

The collector is simply a trench, ditch or a channel dug in the ground. The surfaces of the collector are lined with a waterproof liner sheeting to protect the integrity of the excavation. The size of the trench may range from a modest 2 cubic metres (1m x 1m x 2m) to a large volume of 10,800 cubic metres (3m x 9m x 400m). The collector can be incorporated into existing landscapes by designing suitable patterns, size and location of the "water holes" (collector).

Rainfield apron is the treated catchment area of the collector, which feeds rainfall runoff to the collector. The catchment may be treated by laying out or spraying a non-porous surface on the natural base. Water running from the rainfield apron into the collector is filtered with a screened inlet. Additionally, a secondary network of drains outside the apron can feed the rain to the collector through sub-surface irrigation pipes.

Before usage, the water is to be treated, with the level of treatment being determined by its expected usage. While water for agriculture and livestock needs little or no treatment, water for human consumption requires a greater degree of disinfection. This system may be incorporated into existing storm water disposal systems in cities or rural areas by directing storm water runoff channels to a central reservoir.

Website:http://www.personal.riverusers.com/~solamar