{"id":18764,"date":"2015-06-12T15:04:08","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T15:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/?p=18764"},"modified":"2015-06-21T09:58:43","modified_gmt":"2015-06-21T09:58:43","slug":"bf-6-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/?p=18764","title":{"rendered":"Experts Simplify Rainwater Harvesting for You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queen’s Road \u00a0:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It looks like the monsoon has set in, bringing along wet days and the opportunity to harvest rainwater.<\/p>\n

In November 2009, the state government made rain water harvesting compulsory for all buildings that came up after that and all those on sites bigger than 2,400 sq ft. But there\u2019s no reason to be alarmed if you haven\u2019t installed the facility yet \u2014 you can collect rainwater or recharge groundwater without investing too much time or money.<\/p>\n

Catch the rain<\/strong><\/p>\n

A couple of the city\u2019s experts say that you can save a lot of water by taking a few simple steps. Put a 500 or 1,000-litre barrel under the pipe that carries your roof water, advises S Vishwanath, founder of Rainwater Harvesting Club. Or attach a wall-mounted filter to the pipe which is called a pop-up filter, and let the water flow into your sump tank or borewell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe filter flushes out the first three minutes of water flow so that any dried leaves or bird droppings are washed away,\u201d says Shivakumar. \u201cThe rest of the water is filtered by a cartridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, despite the filter, it\u2019s essential to keep your roof clean to avoid contamination. Shivakumar recommends sweeping once a week and \u2018perhaps on days when it looks like it might rain.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIn smaller houses, since the city is filled with so many, buckets or pitchers can be placed under the pipe or space left for the roof water to come down,\u201d he adds. And whatever little water is collected can be used.<\/p>\n

These steps, when adopted by apartment complexes, will help save money on tanker water at least on some days of the year, he adds. \u201cBut they should stick to collecting water and using it. Don\u2019t try to recharge the groundwater as most likely, many borewells would have dried up in such areas. The water just disappears and you don\u2019t reap the benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social cause<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, other households can dig out a recharge well into which you can direct all the excess rainwater, water that you don\u2019t have space to store. \u201cYou can use a pre-cast cement ring, a minimum of 3 ft in diameter. The well should be at least 10 ft deep,\u201d says Vishwanath. \u201cIt will take you half a day and someone will do it for you for about Rs 10,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A R Shivakumar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re more socially inclined, for recharging the depleting groundwater table is indeed a social cause according to Shivakumar, you could even make trenches in the stormwater drain. \u201cIn open drains, it\u2019s easy to break one of the stone slabs at the bottom, dig up a few feet and fill it with gravel,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Safe to drink<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contrary to popular belief, rainwater collected from your rooftop \u2014 when its kept clean \u2014 is even safe for drinking, both experts say. In fact, it is in Shivakumar\u2019s eco-friendly house, whose family of four has sustained only on rainwater for 20 years now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a BWSSB connection,\u201d he says. Even the water from the washing machine \u2014 essentially soap water \u2014 is reused for toilet flushing and the kitchen sink water for the garden.<\/p>\n

Actually, if you put in place the barrel, the filter and the recharge well, you\u2019ve done 90 per cent of what you can about rainwater harvesting, Vishwanath says. \u201cThe challenge is to overcome the starting trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

source: http:\/\/www.newindianexpress.com \/ The New Indian Express \/ Home> Cities> Bengaluru \/ by Express News Service \/ June 11th, 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Queen’s Road \u00a0: It looks like the monsoon has set in, bringing along wet days and the opportunity to harvest rainwater. In November 2009, the state government made rain water harvesting compulsory for all buildings that came up after that and all those on sites bigger than 2,400 sq ft. But there\u2019s no reason to … Continue reading Experts Simplify Rainwater Harvesting for You<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-green-initiatives-environment","category-nature"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18764"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19087,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18764\/revisions\/19087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangalorefirst.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}