HARVESTING RAIN.

As the name suggests, this practice involves collecting rainwater for
everyday use - drinking water, irrigation, and livestock.

It is especially effective in areas where groundwater is scarce or
contaminated or in places with high population density. It is
conservative of natural resources and takes full advantage of one
natural disaster, floods, to combat another, namely drought.

These benefits have made rainwater harvesting particularly popular in India,
where rainwater harvesting is an ancient tradition and is likely the
primary reason why society could flourish. As far back as 4500 BC,
water has been collected from rivers, floods, monsoons, underground
streams, surface water and deep inside the earth.

While practices differ according to region and climate, this is how
India generally addresses the three steps of rainwater harvesting:

1. Catchment: Water is collected from rooftops and courtyards
(where water is least susceptible to contamination), glaciers, ground
surface coverings that catch monsoon runoff, and river banks.

2. Conveyance: Rain gutters, pipes, and ditch systems.

3. Storage: simple "kuis" or "beris" wells that prevent evaporation
of fallen rainwater, more developed wells known as "kundis" or
"kunds", step-accessible "bundela" and "chandela" tanks (surrounded by
orchards and pavilions)



Eveline Lam
November 19, 2010