Dear Members

Many greetings to you all. Due to decreasing rainfall, Water is a very precious commodity.

Nowadays the rainfall pattern also changing very much. It pours heavily for 15 to 30 minutes then for another couple of days it won't rain even during Southwest monsoon's peak time in our area (Western ghats, India ).

So it is always very difficult to trap the rain water on slopes and recharge our water bodies. We have just started to trap the rain water by using Vetiver(Chrysopogon Zizanioides).

It collects not only rain water but also the very rich and precious top soil. It also gives moisture to the lower area for more number days. Once the root system becomes strong we can able to cultivate more area (the arrow mark area). You can also see my articles in my blog, though it is in Tamil the photographs will give you some idea about Vetiver. Kindly use the link below for view. If you want this to be translated I am willing to do it for a good cause.

http://maravalam.blogspot.com/search/label/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%20%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%87%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D

With regards,
P.VINCENT.

We are not inheriting the property from our Ancestors, But We are borrowing it from our Children. So let us develop and return it. GROW MORE TREES.

Catching the right rain

For a copy of the /Rainwater Harvesting Design and Installation Standard/, take a look at the http://arcsa.org/codefinaldraft.pdf .
The history of this was that we took the best parts of what we could gather from the folks in Germany, New Zealand and Australia, Arizona and Texas.
The technical parts are being applied to the new Green PlumbingSupplement for the upcoming version of the Uniform Plumbing Code thatwill be used nationally ( Internationally if you include that fact thatIndia also uses the UPC).

--E. W. Bob Boulware, P.E., M.B.A.,
PresidentDesign-Aire Engineering,
Inc220 North College Avenue,
Indianapolis, Indiana
http://www.design-aire.com/
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The draft ARCSA guidelines have a nice section on building a diverter but don'tspecify a diversion. The Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting does, however theguidelines provided are really too small to be effective.... there are TWOparameters to be considered - size of the device and speed of reset. Goodfirst-flush device design needs to consider both of these...
Reference:
1) http://www.rwhdigest.com/firstflush.doc
2) http://www.rwhdigest.com/first-flush.pdf
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Water wise schools
An effective water management programme in school can help reduce water usage,associated costs and environmental impacts. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has estimated that schools spend around £70 million a year on water and wastewater services; an average of over £2,500 per school. On average, primary schools use 7m³ of water per pupil per year with secondaryschools using 11m³ per pupil per year (Water Watch 2005). The DCSF suggests that with careful water management most schools can reducethis figure to around 4m³ per pupil per year, benefiting the school's budget and environmental performance. There are many key stages when undertaking a successful programme to reduce water use.

Further references:
1) US: http://www.groundwater.org/shop/proddetail.asp?prod=1114d
2) US: http://www.groundwater.org/
3) UK: http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/corp/hs.xsl/3799.htm
4) UK: http://www.thameswater.co.uk/wiseuptowater/
5) AU: http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/water/wise/schools.html
6) IN: http://www.unicef.org/india/wes_2831.htm
7) ZA: http://www.waterwise.org.za/Ways_to_give.asp

Ole Errson’s 1500 gallon above ground cistern captures 29,000 gallons of stormwater each year from his 1200 square foot roof. Errson was also the first person to receive a city permit to use rainwater they’ve collected for showers, toilets, cooking, laundry, and irrigation. From September through June the Errson family relies almost entirely on rainwater for household use, thanks to a system of microbial filters, ultraviolet light sterilizers, and periodic cleaning and testing. Photo courtesy of Ole Errson.
Location: 3029 SE 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97202
Case study: Rainwater Harvesting and Purification System