Rain water harvesting : Nagpur's Mahurkar family shows the way

Nagpur News.

With the weak monsoon rattling hopes of the farmers and eager citizens here, the water conservation has been the talk of the town. Whether it’s delayed or deficit, whatever the weather department dubs this monsoon as, the dry spell is certainly bringing signs of worries across Vidarbha, major areas of which have not even received half of the normal rains. However experts viewed that Nagpur district may not experience drought like situation, but still it’s a wake-up call for every citizen to rise up for rain water harvesting, in order to meet such an eventuality.

To begin with, let us tell you that every citizen can harvest rain water, which is free and if stored properly has many benefits. This may allay out water shortage plans and may in the long run reduce our water bills.

Almost every year, we face water shortage in many districts and areas in our own city too. Even as the local civic authorities are doing their part in ensuring proper water supply to every citizen in the city, it becomes imperative for every citizen to ensure prevention of water wastage and conservation.

Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and deposition of rainwater for reuse. Rainwater has variety of uses which include bathing, toilet, gardening, for livestock, for irrigation etc. The harvested water, if purified, can be used for drinking too. Rainwater is substantially free of salinity and other salts, which are added for purification of water by the civic authorities. All that is required is to ensure that the concentration of contaminants is reduced significantly by diverting the initial flow of run-off water to waste.

The quality of collected rainwater is generally better than that of surface water. Contamination is always possible by airborne dust and mists, bird feces, and other debris, so some treatment may be necessary, depending on how the water will be used. Instead of using the roof for catchment, the Rain-Saucer, which looks like an upside down umbrella, collects rain straight from the sky. This decreases the potential for contamination and makes potable water for many.

Like many citizens of Nagpur Mahurkar family of Shankarnagar too has tried this method. He has spent nearly Rs13,000/- to get the pipes and a filter to maximize purification of the collected rainwater. He was inspired by his daughter-in-law Prachi Amit Mahurkar who is an environmentalist in Pune. Mahurkar said that his son who used to live in Pune had this rainwater harvesting plant in their society. They had made a huge water tank to store this water collected from rain.

According to Limaye who is selling the filter unit used for purification of rainwater said that one filter is necessary for a roof of 1000 square feet. 1000 square feet of roof can yield about 50,000 liters of water. Therefore in an average 3 months of rainy season, a family may acquire 50,000 liters of water, i.e. if 1000 flats undertake rainwater harvesting they will have 5,00,00,000 (five crores) liters of water. Just imagine what the huge quantity of water can be utilized for? This may help in allaying the water shortage of many areas during summer season. If every family utilizes their own rainwater, the water supplied by the civic authorities could be saved and can be utilized for sending to areas where they face acute water shortage. If all the buildings in the city undertake the rainwater harvesting, maybe we can even send water for farming in those water scarce areas in Vidarbha.