I got interested in water harvesting when I spent a year in Australia for the NDC equivalent course. One of my friends, a hard core white Aussie, had a 12 acre farm east of Canberra. That part of the country is very dry and often faces drought conditions. Like most Aussie farm owners, he too had dug several ponds, in 2-3 tiers, with bunds on the lower lip. Much of the rain water so trapped would soak into the ground. The rest was used to irrigate his orchards.

What really attracted me was his 3000 sq ft home in which almost the entire basement was a water tank with a capacity of about 125,000 litres. This was replenished through rooftop harvesting of rain water. Once the tank was full, it served the internal needs of the home (mainly kitchen and toilet) for over a year.

15 years later when I was constructing a farm house outside Pune, I decided to do something similar, but on a smaller scale. The storage tank was constructed at the time of making the foundation. It’s capacity is 65,000 litres. The rainfall in that area is around 800mm per year (mainly during the 4 month monsoons) which adds up to about 1,60,000 litres from the 200 sq m rooftop. A bathtub sized filtration enclosure removes most solid particles that may come down the gutter. Usually, by mid July the tank is full and the overflow is automatically routed into a bore well on the property.

The net result is that for the two occupants of the house, each using about 125 litres per head per day (WHO norms), we have enough soft water for 8 months – and complete freedom from tankers. The quality of water is superb, though as a matter of abundant caution we use a non-RO filter for cooking and drinking.

Several of my acquaintances have copied the general design, which raises the cost of construction only marginally.

The water from the driveway and the rest of the 1,500 Sq m land is also guided towards a second bore well which happens to be near the lowest point of my property. In all, I estimate I’m putting in about 1.5 to 2.0 lakh litres per year back into the ground.

Will give more details if you are interested.

Farms will always have people working and looking after the fields. If there is danger of waterlogging, the water must be let out.

Our main point is that soak pits made with masonry are suitable for dense urban environments. They are not needed for gardens and farms. Utilise the rain water for the plants and the water will automatically soak into the ground.

In our apartment complex, we put sand in our soak pit and also installed children’s play equipment like slides and swings. So our soak pit doubles as a children’s playground.

Thanks for sharing very useful idea
of rain harvesting .
This can be easily done in the compound
of large Bungalows / Farm houses . However
this is difficult on agri farms , because if water
stand in the field for longer periods ,it may damage
the standing crops.
With warm regards .
ABS Sidhu

Hope this email finds you well.

I read your article on rain water harvesting and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were so many things that I learned of for the first time.
I didn’t know that ‘chhapars’ served as reservoirs for rain water. It makes perfect sense.
The other point of interest was that many years ago providing water was not the government’s responsibility but that’s how people of my generation have always known it to be.
The do-it-yourself project by Dave Sood and Joe Thomas is so inspiring!
Also of interest was the point about how the harvesting method for large open areas differs from that for densely populated urban spaces. Being from Chandigarh, it is heartening for me to hear that the Chandigarh Administration has now mandated rain water harvesting and solar panels for residential houses.
I am currently based in Seattle US. I would like to share some things I have learnt here
1. Water draining from the roofs is collected at the ground level in drums which can be used for watering the lawn in the dry season. This technique is completely gravity fed so no water pumping is required. This water is not as pure as underground water though and is usually used for non-drinking purposes.
2. Many Seattle gardens have a ‘grass mix’ which contains grass varieties better suited to the local climate and require less water for maintenance. The lawn may not look as lush and uniform as the hybrid grass lawns but is still quite pretty, looks more natural and requires less watering.
3. Some homes here have even started growing gardens on the roof which prevent rain water run off and increase green cover in the city (and my guess is that it will also help with temperature control since a garden does not heat/cool as drastically as concrete)
I will share some images for these in a separate email.
Congratulations to you on running such an inspiring and informative e-magazine that is helping people connect and find solutions, thus making their homes and the world a better place.

Warm regards,
Isha

I continue to be impressed by your zeal & energy, your knowledgeable friends, and your simply beautiful writing style.
Keep at it … the world is a better place to live in, with you around, & your dreams sparking away.

Vinod