The Daily Water Zen
Posted on June 25, 2008 | Filed Under Guest Posts, Audio-Video, RWH, Volunteer, River Watch
Videoblogging from S.Vishwanath of the Rainwater Club, www.rainwaterclub.org
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Subject: Rainwater Harvesting for Watershed Development
Duration: 2:18 mins
Sambhav an organization based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat India works on water harvesting and revival of traditional sources. Adopting a community based approach it empowers individuals and organisations to take charge of their water bodies. Here the river Nanduwali flowing south of Sariska has now been made perennial principally by ensuring base flow. This has been done by a series of storage and recharge structures. Open wells have sprung back to life and agriculture is now annual.
The process of how the community got engaged in the whole revival with the help of Sambhav is explained in this video.
River revival strategies- Nanduwali River by Sambhav
New! To watch related Water Shed Development Videos: India Water Portal on You Tube!
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The Daily Water Zen
Posted on June 19, 2008 | Filed Under Technology, Guest Posts, Audio-Video, RWH, Urban Water
Videoblogging from S.Vishwanath of the Rainwater Club, www.rainwaterclub.org
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Subject: Rainwater Harvesting
Duration: 7:09 mins
This KUIDFC film on rainwater harvesting emphasizes on importance of rainwater harvesting in urban areas. It gives a simple demonstration of rooftop rainwater harvesting system consisting of down pipes, first rain separator, filters and storage system.
Rainwater harvesting in urban areas in Kannada
New! To watch related videos: India Water Portal on You Tube!
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CSE’s Advanced Course: “Urban Rainwater Harvesting”
Posted on June 18, 2008 | Filed Under Technology, Conf, Wkshop, Training, Announcements, RWH, Volunteer, Urban Water
Forwarded to the Portal by: Vikas Khanna, CSE India
CSE’s advanced course on “Urban Rainwater Harvesting” for working professionals is being conducted from July 14-18, 2008, at New Delhi.
This course is focused on– the theory, practice and policy of rainwater harvesting (RWH) and is open for all working professionals including civil engineers, architects, urban planners, environment consultants, municipal water managers, policy makers and NGOs. This hands- on workshop will combine class room lectures, field visits, practical exercises and interactive seminars to help you in planning, designing and implementation of rainwater harvesting systems for micro and macro catchments in urban areas. It also undertakes policy and social mobilization aspects of rainwater harvesting.
Application Deadline: July 4, 2008
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The Daily Water Zen
Posted on June 18, 2008 | Filed Under Guest Posts, Audio-Video, RWH, Volunteer
Videoblogging from S.Vishwanath of the Rainwater Club, www.rainwaterclub.org
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Subject: Rainwater Harvesting
Duration: 3:29 mins
The film shows how rooftop rainwater harvesting has improved lives of the womenfolk of Kuruburakunte village. The awareness regarding water among the women is also a very important highlight of the whole initiative.
Bringing home Rain
New! To watch related videos: India Water Portal on You Tube!
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The Daily Water Zen
Posted on June 17, 2008 | Filed Under Guest Posts, Audio-Video, RWH, Urban Water
Videoblogging from S.Vishwanath of the Rainwater Club, www.rainwaterclub.org
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Subject: Rainwater Harvesting
Duration: 1:12 mins
Harvesting rainwater in an urban context is easy. Jaane Janaki shows the first step on how to install a Rain Barrel.
Jaane Janaki- Clever Janaki who knows how to harvest rain
New! To watch related videos: India Water Portal on You Tube!
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The Daily Water Zen
Posted on June 11, 2008 | Filed Under Guest Posts, Audio-Video, RWH
Videoblogging from S.Vishwanath of the Rainwater Club, www.rainwaterclub.org
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Subject: Rainwater Harvesting
Duration: 1:32 mins
Neighbour’s plunge in to help place the stone slab covers for the rainwater tank in a house in the village Arjunabetahalli near Bangalore. With a little bit of help from friends systems work better and additional water is available for household use. Kavya, all of 8, is fascinated by the operations as much as the camera. She however lets the cameraman know that a ‘Totti’ (tank) is being built to collect rainwater. She also knows that the first rain separator allows the initial dirty water to flow out.
The clean rainwater collected can be used for washing clothes, for animals to drink and other such uses. The stone slabs being placed are a local slate called Cuddapah stone after the place here it is prevalent. This is the cheapest covering available though heavy. Once placed on top, the gaps between two pieces of stone are sealed with mud mortar to prevent mosquito breeding.
Late evening gives the film a Bergmanesques touch :):).
Rooftop rainwater harvesting- with a lil bit of help…
New! To watch related videos: India Water Portal on You Tube!
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The Daily Water Zen
Posted on June 10, 2008 | Filed Under Guest Posts, Audio-Video, RWH
Videoblogging from S.Vishwanath of the Rainwater Club, www.rainwaterclub.org
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Subject: Rainwater Harvesting
Duration: 2:26 mins
In Arjunadbettahalli of Nelamangala and about 40 km from Bangalore little Vinutha, all of 10 and studying in the 5th standard answers questions on water and rainwater. She emphasizes that water is a limited resource and therefore should be used carefully. She also has been studying about rainwater harvesting in school and now sees one being built in her house.
Every day she and her mother spend half an hour to 2 hours in bringing water to the house. When question she is perplexed as to why the boys in the family do not do this work. Harvesting rain helps the girl child from hauling water during the rainy days at least. Ultimately gender equality will alone answer the burden put on little girls.
A Little girl’s take on Water and Rainwater Harvesting
New! To watch related videos: India Water Portal on You Tube!
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In Pictures: 1000 year old Bawadi in Patan, Gujarat
Posted on June 5, 2008 | Filed Under RWH, Volunteer
RANI KI-VAV PATAN
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This step well is said to have been constructed by Udaimati the queen of Bhim Deva (A.D. 1022 to 1063) son of Mularaja. The founder of the Solanki Dynasty of Anahilwada Pattan in about 1050 AD. Information Derived from a plaque installed by the Archaeological Society of India at the site.
Photos are by Farhad Contractor. For more information, usage permission and high resolution photos, contact farhadcontractor@gmail.com with a cc to portal@arghyam.org
Read more about Mr. Farhad Contractor here: Mr. Farhad Contractor
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The Daily Water Zen
Posted on June 5, 2008 | Filed Under Guest Posts, Audio-Video, RWH
Videoblogging from S.Vishwanath of the Rainwater Club, www.rainwaterclub.org
=====
Subject: Rainwater Harvesting
Duration: 1:41 mins
This old couple in a home in Laghumuddepalli village has devoted an entire room for a large rainwater tank. They started to build an underground tank but then struck hard rock. Since the room was not really being used, the children having moved out, they decide to build a tank over the ground anyway to store rainwater. This collects water from the rooftop which is filtered before it is sent in to the storage tank. A hand pump draws the water out.
The SACHETANA project of the Government of Karnataka is being implemented by BIRD-K an NGO. This is worth emulating in all fluoride and arsenic affected areas of the world.
Rooftop rainwater harvesting - fluoride free water for homes
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Buying an apartment ? Read this !!!
Posted on June 4, 2008 | Filed Under IWP, IEC Material, RWH, Urban Water
We at the Water Portal, came up with some questions to ask the builder when you are buying an apartment. The more educated you are regarding the way the apartment is handling water, the better decision you are likely to make and one that will benefit you immensely in the long term. The builder does not have a natural incentive to think about wise water management as most of us don’t consider this seriously when buying an apartment. If we demand better water management from the builders, they will automatically respond. .
So here are the talking points. This is only a start, and we welcome more input from others to make this a comprehensive resource that people can use:
About planning for the water supply:
What is the builders’ estimate how much water the building likely to consume daily ? What has been the basis for calculation of different water requirement? Where is the water supply for the building going to come from ? What is the realistic picture for the availability of water from different sources that they are planning for ? What is the backup in case the planned option runs into difficulties ? If municipal water supply, what has been the trend of supply in that area ? If water tankers, where is the tanker supplier getting the water from ? Is the supply likely to be viable in the longer term ? What about potability of water source, have they tested the water quality ?
About using Groundwater
2.) If they are depending on groundwater for some or all of the supply, what is the long term sustainability ? Are there many apartment complexes and offices in the vicinity (or likely to come up soon) in which case the demand on the groundwater will be high and groundwater will deplete quickly ? What is the depth to which they went to hit water in the borewell, compare it to other wells in the locality. Is there a strategy to recharge the groundwater ?
About Rainwater harvesting
3.) Is the builder implementing rainwater harvesting ? Rainwater harvesting, either for direct use or groundwater recharge is going to be an extremely useful source of water as the shortages increase. There is no reason why builders cannot implement RWH other than that people do not insist on it. The more people put pressure, the more likely builders will act on this. Have they even heard of rainwater harvesting and the benefits?
If they are using RWH, ask how the cleanliness of the roof (typically where the water is harvested from) will be ensured. Is there a different tank for RWH water and other water supply. How have they calculated the tank size ? If the RWH water is being used for bathroom purposes or (with proper precautions) for drinking purposes, it will have a real impact on the water requirement for the complex. This will need a separate pipeline system for bathroom and kitchen. Has this been implemented ?
About Wastewater Treatment 
4.) Is the wastewater being connected to the city sewage lines ? If not, how is it being handled ? There are strong arguments for implementing a wastewater treatment plant in-house for larger apartment complexes. Not only does it create a source of water for use in landscaping or carwashing, it also reduces pollution of groundwater and reduces strain on the city infrastructure. Again, have they heard of this possibility?
If they are treating wastewater, how are they planning to use or dispose of the treated water. If electricity supply in your area is erratic, does the treatment plant design take that into account ? What will be the process and cost for maintaining the treatment plant ?
Landscaping
5.) Is there a lot of grass and shrubs being planned ? Trees take up less water (and local varieties rather than exotic varieties) are a better option. What are the current plans of watering the green area - the kind of water and the kind of system
Incentivizing water conservation:
6.) The cost of procuring the water for use in the apartment complex is likely to be quite high or is likely to increase rather than decrease. So people need to pay for the water they use rather than paying a fixed amount per apartment. This automatically incentivizes people to conserve water. But when there is no way to measure how much water you are using, there is no way to set up a system that rewards people for using less water. Therefore individual water meters are essential for each apartment ? Are these being installed ?
Water-Saving Devices:
7.) Have the builders installed water-saving devices ? These include low-flow showers, dual flush toilets with smaller tank size, and low-flow tanks.
Other points to think about:
8.) Solid waste management: Is there is a system to segregate garbage into organic and non-organic ? Kitchen waste can be composted locally to provide fertilizer for the garden. Has at least a space been earmarked so that the residents may put a system in place.
9.) Once the Apartment Owner’s Association is in place, it would be good to monitor the water use closely and bill people based on usage. So the water bill for the apartments should be calculated by usage rather than clubbed into the maintenance. Leakages would also need to be monitored. Water loss through leakages and ineffective plumbing is rather large in most housing complexes.
10.) There are several ‘green building’ technologies that are becoming mainstream. These include solar heaters, designing to maximise the use of natural lighting, and to reduce energy requirements for heating or cooling. These kind of technologies will pay off in the long run and need to be incorporated early, as retrofitting will be difficult and more expensive. Builders will start thinking along these lines only if buyers demand these.
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