Conservation of Rain Water in Urban Area Using Ground Water Recharge

Abstract

Abstract: Water scarcity is serious problem throughout the world for both urban & rural community. As the world population increases, the demand increases for quality drinking water. Urbanization, industrial development & increase in agricultural field & production has resulted in overexploitation of groundwater & surface water resources and resultant deterioration in water quality. The conventional water sources namely well, river and reservoirs, etc. are inadequate to fulfill water demand due to unbalanced rainfall. . Surface andgroundwater resources are being utilized faster than they can be recharged. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is an option that has been adopted in many areas of the world where conventional water supply systems have failed to meet people’s needs.It is a technique that has been used since antiquity. It is an environmentally sound solution to address issues brought forth by large projects utilizing centralized water management approaches. Water harvesting is the activity of direct collection of rainwater, which can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the groundwater. Water harvesting is the collection of runoff for productive purposes. According to Kim et al. (2005), rainwater harvesting may be one of the best methods available to recovering the natural hydrologic cycle and enabling urban development to become sustainable. The harvesting of rainwater has the potential to assist in alleviating pressures on current water supplies and storm water drainage systems. Rainwater collection has the potential to impact many people in the world. As water harvesting is an ancient tradition and has been used for millennia in most dry lands of the world, many different techniques have been developed the aim of the present study is to use rainwater andthus taking close to the concept of nature conservation. In this study, the rain water harvesting (RWH) system is analyzed as an alternative source of water in Gwalior Town in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India and the results were elated. By our calculation we have come to the conclusion that 108 days water can be stored for the entire city by the means of rain water harvesting method and that too only if we assume that only 70% of the water is being stored and remaining 30% of the water is getting wasted in the form of runoff. Even though, after this we are able to get 108 days of water for the entire city.