Question

Write about rain water harvesting and its advantages.

Answer 1

Hint: All the life on this planet depends on water. But, because of bad conservation techniques and mishandling of the resource, we are facing the issue of water scarcity. So to deal with this water scarcity in an efficient manner, conservation and management of rainwater has become a necessity and rainwater harvesting became a new catchword.

Complete answer:
Rainwater harvesting is also known as rainwater collection system or rainwater catchment system. It is the technology that collects and stores rainwater for human use. In small scale, rainwater harvesting systems use simple rain barrels to store the rainwater while on large scale collection, more complex structures with heavy pumps, large tanks, and purification systems are used.
It is a long lasting and renewable process that helps in preserving water for future needs. Water scarcity is a matter of serious concern in today’s scenario. The process of rainwater harvesting is a convenient way to conserve water.

How rainwater is harvested.
Rainwater harvesting systems has following constituents:-
Catchment- it is used to collect and store the Rainwater.
Conveyance system – It is used to transfer the harvested water from the catchment to the recharge zone.
Flush- It is used to expel out the first span of rain.
Filter – it is used for filtering the collected rainwater and removing pollutants present in it.
Tanks and the recharge structures are used to store the filtered water.

The process of rainwater harvesting comprises the collection and the storage of rainwater with the help of artificially designed set-ups and complex systems that run off naturally or artificially made catchment areas.

Advantages of Rainwater Harvesting

1. Easy to Maintain: Harvesting rainwater allows us to efficiently utilize an energy resource. Nowadays, it becomes important to do so since drinking water is not easily renewable and it helps in reducing wastage.
2. Reducing Water Bills: Water that is collected by the process of rainwater harvesting system can be put to use for several other functions as well. For many household and small businesses, rainwater harvesting helps in the reduction of the utilities bills.
3. Suitable for Irrigation: Rainwater is toxin free and chemical free. As it is free from harmful chemicals where no such chemicals are found in groundwater, making it suitable for irrigation and gardening purposes.
4. Reduces Demand on Ground Water: As there is an increase in population, the demand for water is also rising day by day. Many reputed housing townships, colonies and large scale industries are utilizing ground water to fulfill their daily water needs. To deal with this depletion of groundwater, rain water harvesting is needed.
6. Used in Several Non-drinking Purposes: Rainwater can be used for several other non-drinking functions including cleaning toilets, washing of clothes, watering the plants, washing vehicles etc.
7. Rainwater for drinking purposes: With the simple household system and with some equipment rainwater can be stored and used for drinking purposes.

Note: In human history rain water harvesting techniques have been used through ages (around 4500 BC), as it is documented in books that irrigation methods have been used by the people of Mohenjo-Daro and Ur i.e. present day Iraq.
Today rainwater harvesting is being used in mostly all developed countries for drinking and agricultural purposes.