“ Water is the elixir of life ”

A famous saying goes. The perennial rivers, lakes etc., are becoming dry and ground water table is depleting in most areas of our country. India is facing floods and droughts in the same year in many states. The demand of water is increasing day by day not only for agriculture but also for household and industrial purposes. The total available water for the World per person per year is about 7000 cum, whereas for India and Tamil Nadu it is about 2200 and 800 cum respectively (Sivanappan, R.K, 2001). It is estimated that water need for drinking, other municipal and industrial uses will be increased by 4 fold i.e., from 3.3 MHM to about 12.00 MHM in 2020/25.This implies a concrete action has to be taken to conserve, harvest and manage the water efficiently.

“Catch water when it falls”

Rainwater harvesting is the practice of collecting the rainwater by storing it for immediate use or by recharging it into the ground to increase the level of ground water table. A Modern Rainwater Harvesting systems includes artificial recharging and rooftop-harvesting methods, which is being implemented in Kumaraguru College of technology, PKR Arts College, Shankara Eye Hospital and Kikani Matriculation School of Coimbatore District. This paper deals with need for artificial recharge of ground water and also suggests suitable rainwater harvesting structures through case studies in Coimbatore District of Tamilnadu, India.

Centre for Water and Environmental Studies,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Kumaraguru College of Technology,
Coimbatore- 6, Tamilnad, India.