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2022 | Book

Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

Rainwater Harvesting

In Urban Centers within the Hard Rock Terrain of the Deccan Basalts of India

Author: Anil Lalwani

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

Our dependency on groundwater resources and overuse thereof has led to a decline in water table so that in the last couple of decades the focus has shifted back to the traditional practices of rainwater harvesting, and ways and means have been sought to promote Rainwater harvesting in Urban areas to recharge the stressed groundwater systems. This book discusses in brief the classifications of Rainwater harvesting, and the various rainwater harvesting systems that are currently applied. The most important aspect for achieving any groundwater recharge is the availability of source water, this can be evaluated by analyzing the monsoon rainfall pattern, its frequency, number of rainy days, and maximum rainfall in a day and its variation in space and time.

The Deccan basalts are one of the most enigmatic rocks in India and pose a very difficult task when it comes to ground water exploration and groundwater recharge, especially in the urban areas where due to constraint of space one needs to resort to borewells for recharge purpose. It is important for any such undertaking to understand the applicability and sustainability aspects of Rainwater harvesting as it is being practiced.

This book tries to differentiate the Basaltic Aquifers from the other hard-rock Aquifers, and highlights the difficulties in trying to implement rainwater harvesting by groundwater recharge with the basaltic terrain. It also deals with the issue of long term sustainability of roof top Rainwater to meet the growing demands of fresh water. It also highlights some of the shortcomings in the methodologies used and the requirements for being considered in the various categories of green building rating agencies.

It furthermore clarifies the possibility and limitations of dependence of roof top harvesting in addressing the question of water shortages, which is of common occurrence within most urban centres of India. It also helps in clarifying major misconceptions that are currently prevailing regarding Roof top Rainwater harvesting especially within the low capacity aquifers within the hard rock terrain of the Deccan basalts.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
Availability of good quality water is one of the essential factors for any kind of sustainable development. After reaching the road block in terms of lack of space in metros to spread laterally seems to have prompted the administration to reach toward the sky to meet the ever-increasing demand for living space. This upward trend in construction has given rise to high-rise multi-storied building being built in all urban metros across the world. This in turn has led to an increase in the population density which is concentrated in and around such metro cities, and with this increase in population density comes the extra demand of fresh water.
Anil Lalwani
Chapter 2. Classification of Rainwater Harvesting Systems
Abstract
Rain being the only source of fresh water, harvesting rainwater gains its rightful place of importance for ensuring adequate water for the future growth of human habitation. Rainwater harvesting as we understand now is a technology that has been quite effective in meeting the water requirement in ancient times. As it has already been mentioned earlier, rainwater harvesting basically is providing for a system to collect rainwater for future use. Rainwater harvesting systems can be categorized in different ways. It can be adapted for different needs and also depending on the funds that are available. It can also be categorized on the size of the storage, the distance of travel, or on the various catchment type, etc.
Anil Lalwani
Chapter 3. Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting
Abstract
The difficulty in maintaining a clean environment on the rooftops of buildings which acts as catchment areas is a probable cause with results in the contamination of the rainwater that is being harvested, and hence, it is recommended that use of rooftop harvested water for drinking and even for domestic use should be done only after it has been subjected to prior treatment. A majority of government reports suggest that India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history, and millions of lives and livelihoods are under threat. As per the records of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, there has been an increase in urban population from 29 crores in 2001 to 37.70 crores in 2011 which is approximately a 30% increase along with this the urban towns too have risen from 5161 to 7935 in the same period. This has resulted in an increase in the demand for water in the urban areas, at a time when these metropolitan cities in the country are already facing acute shortage of drinking water in the summers this despite the fact that these cities experience good rainfall and flooding water logging of streets in the monsoon period. The very fact that water harvested is water produced and thus the need to make sincere attempts to harvest every drop of water that falls within every premises, locality, city, and country.
Anil Lalwani
Chapter 4. Rainwater Harvesting and The Deccan Basalts
Abstract
Rainwater harvesting within the Deccan basaltic terrain is not really as simple as it is assumed to be. As mentioned in the earlier chapter, come summer the news articles in daily newspapers, regarding failed borewells, falling water table, insufficient water from borewells in major cities within the Deccan basaltic province is of common occurrence. This is not surprising, as the Deccan basalts are one of the most enigmatic rocks and pose a very difficult task where it comes to groundwater exploration and naturally also for groundwater recharge, especially in the urban areas where due to constraint of space one needs to resort to borewells for recharge purpose.
Anil Lalwani
Chapter 5. Long-Term Sustainability
Abstract
Groundwater constitutes 48% of urban water supply in India. As per National Institute of Urban Affairs, 56% of metropolitan, class-I and class-II cities, are either fully or partially dependent on groundwater. The groundwater scenario in 28 Indian cities suggests that more than 50% of urban water is unaccounted for. Groundwater exploitation for commercial and domestic use in most cities is leading to reduction in ground water level. All this are indicators to the possibility of India becoming a water stressed country in the near future, with more and more people not having adequate access to clean drinking water.
Anil Lalwani
Chapter 6. The Way Ahead
Abstract
As mentioned in the previous chapter, if one expects not to be water stressed in the near future, there needs to be major change in the construction norms and proper preplanning needs to be done to evolve water smart cities of the future, this is especially true for the cities within the hard rock terrain of the Deccan basalts. Apart from the control of spread of urban sprawl both laterally and vertically, on really needs to evolve some sort of norm that needs to be adapted while constructing new structures.
Anil Lalwani
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Rainwater Harvesting
Author
Anil Lalwani
Copyright Year
2022
Electronic ISBN
978-3-031-05710-6
Print ISBN
978-3-031-05709-0
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05710-6