Rainwater Harvesting to be made compulsory in Kolhapur !!!
The town planning department of the KMC is all set to make rainwater harvesting mandatory for the upcoming and also the existing real estate projects in the city. As told by the city engineer Mr Netradeep Sarnobat, rainwater harvesting will be made compulsory or the upcoming projects in the first phase and then will be gradually implemented in the existing projects.
In the state of Tamil Nadu,
rainwater harvesting was made compulsory for every building to avoid
ground water depletion. It proved excellent results within five years,
and every other state took it as role model. Since its implementation, Chennai saw a 50 percent rise in water level in five years and the water quality significantly improved
Why rainwater harvesting?
Rainwater is a free source and relatively clean and with proper treatment it can be even used as a potable
water source. Rainwater harvesting saves high-quality drinking
water sources
and relieves the pressure on sewers and the environment by mitigating
floods, soil erosion's and replenishing groundwater levels. In addition, rainwater harvesting reduces the potable water consumption and consequently, the volume of generated waste water.
Application areas
Rainwater harvesting systems can be installed in both new and existing buildings and harvested rainwater
used for different applications that do not require drinking water
quality such as toilet flushing, garden watering, irrigation, cleaning
and laundry washing. Harvested rainwater is also used in many parts of the world as a drinking water source. As rainwater is very soft there is also less consumption of washing and cleaning powder. With rainwater harvesting, the savings in potable water could amount up to 50% of the total household consumption.
Criteria for selection of rainwater harvesting technologies
Several factors should be considered when selecting rainwater harvesting systems for domestic use:
• type and size of catchment area
• local rainfall data and weather patterns
• family size
• length of the drought period
• alternative water sources
• cost of the rainwater harvesting system.
Some of the ongoing projects with rainwater harvesting !!!
