Comments for Harvesting Rainwater

Comment on The disenchantment of bore wells by Dr Shrikant D. Limaye

Dr Shrikant D. Limaye — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:37:28 +0000

At village level, the Gram-sabha (Village meeting) could decide that
1.No farmer would use a bore well for irrigation.
2.Only dug wells for irrigation and bore wells for drinking water.
3.Horizontal bores allowed in dug wells to get additional supply but no vertical bores in the bottom of dug wells.
4.Through Government Schemes of watershed development and contructing rainwater harvesting structures the villagers would cooperate to enrich the shallow water table which feeds their dug wells.
5.The cropping pattern would be decided on the basis of Monsoon rainfall received till September.
6.Discourage growing Sugarcane,Bananas or other ‘high water demand’ crops

There are a handful of examples of such villages in low-rainfall area in Maharashtra. Their success in ‘drought-proofing’ should motivate the Sarpanch (Village council Chiefs) elesewhere in India. An active, honest & devoted Sarpanch could do a lot!

Comment on Open wells - la suite by Dr Shrikant D. Limaye

Dr Shrikant D. Limaye — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:17:30 +0000

Apartment complexes in Bangalore are using bore well water which is presumably of better quality than dug well water. The excessive pumping from deep bores has depleted the phreatic water table and some of the dug wells have gone dry. However, the phreatic water reservoir is the main source of water supply for bore wells because the deeper fractures in hard rock are eventually fed from the upper water table reservoir.It is therefore a worthwhile effort to study the dug wells and improve their health through rainwater harvesting. The bores also could be used for rainwater harvesting in Monsoons, but the water from the terrace should be first filtered through a sand-barrel and then let into the bores.

-Dr S D Limaye
Project Leader, UNESCO-IGCP-IUGS project GROWNET (Groundwater Network for Best Practices in Ground Water Management in Low Income Countries.) Website: http://www.igcp-grownet.org

Comment on Tears in rain - time to die by Leenug

Leenug — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:03:45 +0000

/me feels the rain

Comment on Tears in rain - time to die by Viggo

Viggo — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:02:07 +0000

I felt the rain first.

Comment on Rainwater harvesting in greenhouses by rp pandey

rp pandey — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:54:32 +0000

I wanted to know details reg construction cost (rate/unit vol or area)for a lowest cost polyhouse along with rainwater harvesting system,in reference to hill area (alt-5500-6000ft)of uttaranchal.kindly also inform me about govt subsidy if available.

Comment on Building an ecological swimming pool by Sophie Sarin

Sophie Sarin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:32:17 +0000

I have a small hotel in Djenné, Mali, West Africa. It is thus the Sahel, and water is scarce. We use a lot of water to water our garden, however, which is pumped from our well with a foot pedal pump. We can remove ca 2 cubic metres of water a day. I am now intending to build a small swimming pool, into which we will pump the 2 cubic metres from the well in the morning, and then, at night we will pump out the same quantity of water out of the pool and onto the plantation. In this way we will recycle the water. Do you think this is going to work?

Comment on Water management-Lessons from Singapore by nandini

nandini — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:28:31 +0000

What Singapore is doing in terms of sourcing water is really appreciable. Though I wonder how water literate the people there are. I recently moved to the US. I have been visiting a lot of friends here (mostly NRIs) and I noticed that they use water without a thought. While washing utensils, water (which is potable), is allowed to run even when they are scrubbing the utensils. Of course I do my bit by telling them to close the tap, but it doesn’t seem to register. I wish all of us took these small initiatives to save water seriously!

Comment on Water management-Lessons from Singapore by rainwaterharvesting

rainwaterharvesting — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:32:14 +0000

Dear John,
Getting the published paper would be highly appreciated. Thank you for your comments too.

Comment on Water management-Lessons from Singapore by John Poon

John Poon — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:14:31 +0000

Singapore has been truly innovative with their visionary and committed approach to the future of water resources in Singapore. The leadership example they have shown is only now being recognised and picked up by the rest of the world. Singapore continues to invest heavily in water technologies, in fact is a core area of their National Research Foundation (http://www.nrf.gov.sg/nrf/default.aspx. Look out for where the future of water technology will go and who will be at the forefront. I have a published paper on the demonstration trial Singapore did between 1998 to 2003 to prove the technology behind NEWater. I can send you a copy if you wound like.

Comment on Film festival on water 2008 - Voices from the waters by Listen & Be Heard Weekly » Blog Archive » calls for entries

Listen & Be Heard Weekly » Blog Archive » calls for entries — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:16:28 +0000

[...] Film festival on water 2008 - Voices from the waters By rainwaterharvesting CALL FOR ENTRIES. Bangalore Film Society, Arghyam, Svaraj- Society for Voluntary Action Revitalization and Justice, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College, USA (FLEFF) Mountainfilm in Telluride, USA, Alliance Francaise … Harvesting Rainwater - http://rainwaterharvesting.wordpress.com [...]