1. Water shortages in a Monsoon City?????
As the population increases and requirements for water
both residentially and industrially grow, the amount of
water available in Bangalore per person has decreased.
Bangalore’s bore wells are drying up and in some cases
becoming contaminated. Water has to be pumped
90KM, mainly up hill, from the Cauvery, at much
expense. Bangalore once had 282 lakes which has now
reduced to 82, which driving around town can in the
most part be seen to be murky shades of green with
plenty of unpleasant looking miscellaneous objects
floating therein or weed infested. Some of the biggest
lakes that effectively served as water tanks are now
sports stadiums, golf courses, apartment complexes or
bus stands.
But it rains and rains, cat and dogs, elephants and
camels…..streets are dry one minute flooded the next,
dust to mud in seconds, jeans rolled up as you wade to
the car shoes in hand…..you know the score!!
So why, when Bangalore has a rainy season have we
historically wasted this free resource that for a few
months a year pours daily onto our rooftops and is
there for the taking? Apparently a 100 square meter of
roof can yield 90,000 liters of rain in one wet season.
Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) was been implemented in
dry areas since the beginning of time, or at least since
biblical times. Rajastan has many ancient forms of RWH,
which are still in practice today.

2. In Bangalore, it is now mandatory (since 1999) for new
homes to be built to RWH standards and it is also
compulsory to adapt certain older buildings. There are
now plumbers and builders trained and specialized in
RWH techniques. One of the main barriers to RWH has
been cited as lack of awareness and in order to
encourage RWH in poorer areas there are various
initiatives to educate kids through the local schools to
spread the word.
One would not imagine rainwater harvesting to be that
complicated – “catch, filter, store” The rainwater can
then be used for anything. Obviously gardening, car
washing, clothes washing, house cleaning but also if the
water is boiled and filtered for cooking and drinking.
In fact at its most basic level rainwater harvesting is
extremely easy. Driving or walking around town, seen
big blue tanks – probably rain water harvesting! This is
one thing I have really enjoyed about researching this
topic – its sort of scientific but I can actually understand
it!!
RWH is basically either surface collection for immediate
consumption or artificially recharging the ground water
for the longer-term sustainability of our water supply.
Roof tops are the most common site for collecting rain
for immediate consumption, obviously the higher you
catch the rain the cleaner it will be. The roof also being
a ready-made surface, all homes have one! Water is
piped down into tanks, filtered and then consumed as

3. and when. It is amazing how some very simple,
relatively low cost planning does the job. Some piping, a
tank and a filter system is all you need. While
researching this I was really impressed to discover the
RWH initiatives – not just instigated by corporate India
or in the ‘rich’ housing areas but in the villages. During
those lengthy periods of time we all spend bumping
around twiddling our thumbs in the car, look out of the
window and try and spot the maybe unexpected houses,
schools that are RWH friendly. For some there is an
environmental, sustainability rationale, for others the
driving force is financial, especially in the suburbs
where they are not hooked up to the city water supplies.
When water becomes scarce, it becomes more
expensive.
In my neighborhood, our RWH initiative to recharge the
ground water, using the run off method. When the
neighborhood was first built excess water (that not
absorbed into the topsoil, ie once it had become
saturated) was caught in the storm water drains and
disappeared into the sewage system. Various methods
of RWH were explored and the most efficient and
economical selected (which happily turned out to be the
same!) The aim was to increase our water table for
long-term sustainability (ie not immediate
consumption) The importance here is to only let clean
water back into the sub soil, to save our bore wells from
becoming contaminated. In front of the majority of
Villas (200 of them) at least one Infiltration Well (IW)
was dug into the front yard, close to the storm water

4. drain. Inside the storm water drain, walls were built to
stop the waters escaping into the sewage system This
water is then directed into the IW where it is “cleaned”
as it passes through the filter system and percolates
down into he subsoil. This was quite project involving a
lot of disruption, noise and additional dust in the
neighborhood but now no signs are visible. In the last
couple of weeks, 3 new bore wells have been dug, all
apparently yielding water, which is currently being
tested for contamination – no results as yet!
While writing this article what has hit me is how RWH is
really a matter of common sense, yes there are
complexities – the initial set up costs (though there are
now various incentives available), a need to raise
awareness and concerns over the quality of the water
(acid rain etc.) but if farmers in dry areas back in the
third millennium BC could do it, why can’t we?