Rain Water Harvesting at Rooftop level in Educational Campus

Akshay Borati
S.B.Patil College of Architecture & Design, Akurdi,Pune

ABSTRACT
Water being a precious lifeline to the humanity is getting scarce day by day.The rapid population growth,
urbanization, industrialization, agricultural intensification & changing life style has resulted in
overexploitation of groundwater and surface water resources. Due to unbalanced rainfall, the conventional
water sources are inadequate to fulfil the demands of water requirements. So there is a need for an alternative
technologywhich will be cost effectiveand easy method for conserving water. Rainwater Harvesting is the best
method for minimizing water scarcity problem. Currently some cities has made Rainwater Harvesting System
mandatory for all new constructions. In this study, Rain Water Harvesting System is analysed as an alternative
source from the rooftop of the building in the Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering(PCCOE) Campus.
The water collected from the rooftop will be stored in a storage tank and reused for secondary purposes in the
campus and will fulfill the water demands in the future.

Keywords : Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting , Recharge Pit, Underground Storage Tank , Run off
coefficient , Water supply

1. INTRODUCTION
a) Need for Rainwater Harvesting
For our water requirement, we entirely depend upon rivers, lakes and ground water.
However, rain is the ultimate source that feeds all these sources. As water is becoming scarce, it is the
need of the day to attain self-sufficiency to fulfill the water needs. As urban water supply system is
under tremendous pressure for supplying water to ever increasing population. Groundwater is getting
depleted and polluted. Soil erosion resulting from the unchecked runoff. Health hazards due to
consumption of polluted water. Rainwater Harvesting(RWH) is to make optimum use of rain water at
the place where it falls i.e. conserve it and not allow draining away and causing floods elsewhere.
Rainwater Harvesting is a simple technique of catching and holding rainwater where it falls. Either we
can store it in tanks for further use or we can use it recharge groundwater system depending upon the
situation. RWH system is economically cheaper in construction compared to other sources i.e. wells,
canals, dams.

b) Components of Rainwater Harvesting

The system mainly constitutes the following components :
• Catchment
• Downpipes & first flushing pipe
• Filters
• Storage tank
c) Methods of Rainwater Harvesting
• Rainwater stored for direct use in above ground
or underground sumps / overhead tanks and
used directly for flushing, gardening, washing

• Recharged to ground through recharge pits, dug wells, bore

wells, soak pits, recharge trenches, etc. (Ground water
recharge)
 d)Benefits of rain water harvesting system:
• It can supplement other sources of water supply such as groundwater or municipal
water connections.
• It lower the water supply cost.
• It can provide an excellent back-up source of water for emergencies.
• It is socially acceptable and environmentally responsible.
• It uses simple technologies that are inexpensive and easy to maintain.
• Reduced flood flows and topsoil loss.
• It is free; the only cost is for collection and use.
• It reduces the contamination of surface water with sediments, fertilizers and pesticides
from rainwater run-off resulting in cleaner lakes, rivers, oceans and other receivers of
storm water.
• It is used in those areas which face insufficient water resources.
• It is good for laundry use as rainwater is soft and lowers the need for detergents.
• It can be used to recharge groundwater.
• It minimizes the runoff which blocks the storm water drains.

e) Indian Scenario: Rain Water Harvesting The annual precipitation in India is estimated on an
average 1100 mm. Although its distribution in space and time is highly variable, most of it is
allowed to go waste as run-off water into the sea through the river system. The Government of India
(GoI) is also promoting rainwater harvesting through watershed management programme, artificial
recharge of GW and roof top rain water harvesting (RRWH) under various schemes. The main
function of the urban local bodies is to guide the development according to the master plan prepared
by the town & country planning departments and to provide and maintain the services like water
supply, sanitation and transportation. The major flaw in these planning processes is that the building
bye-laws and development charges do not encourage citizens to adopt RRWH and other measures to
conserve the water.