Water Class 6 Science - Rainwater Harvesting and Methods of Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater Harvesting and Methods of Rainwater Harvesting.
Access more videos and courses on - https://learnfatafat.com/courses/cbse...

Rain Water Harvesting:
Water plays an important role for all living organisms. However, scarcity of water is increasing day by day. Thus, there is need to save water for us and our future generations.
Rain Water Harvesting-
Catching, collecting and storing rainwater for personal consumption and other purposes is called rain water harvesting. Rain water is collected from the surfaces like rooftops and then it is stored in storage tanks.
Why Rain Water Harvesting Is Necessary?
About 2/3rd of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Even though such a large amount of water is present on earth’s surface, still we face problems regarding the availability of water. This is because only small portion of this water is consumable. Water we consume is fresh water obtained from rivers, lakes, ground water, etc. However, water from seas and oceans is saline water which is not suitable for biological system of living organism. Studies found that, ratio of fresh water to saline water is decreasing day by day. And reason behind this could be increase in population, growth of industries, deforestation and many more. Thus, to increase availability of freshwater, rain water harvesting is a protective method.
Benefits of Rain Water Harvesting?
Storing and using rainwater reduces the use of municipality water. It helps to ensure the supply of water for longer time. In addition to this, it also reduces water bills. The stored water can be used for washing your vehicles, for laundries, watering for trees, etc.
During government water supply cutoffs, rainwater can be used as backup water supply.
It will reduce the chances of floods, erosions and stormwater runoffs around the buildings. The rainwater is absolutely free to store, you just need to store it properly.

Rain water harvesting is the main water source for those areas where no other water sources are available or expensive to make it available.
Harvested rainwater can be used for irrigation. If filtered properly, it is suitable for drinking purposes.
In the areas where rainfall is more and above the capacity of rain water harvesting storages, the groundwater can be charged through artificial recharge techniques.

Methods of Rain Water Harvesting:
Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting:
In this method, rainwater is collected from the rooftops of the homes and buildings. Roof top acts as a collecting surface, from where water is allowed travel in the storage tanks. Also, water can be transferred into to the pits where it can be seep into the soil. This is one of the cheapest method for rainwater harvesting.
Roadside Drains:
In this method, rainwater falling on the ground is used to recharge ground water, rather than letting it into the drainage systems. However, many times this water is also collected in water storages.
Rainwater Barrels:
Using dry systems, water is stored in large storages. In comparison to barrel system, more water can be stored with the help of dry system. After rainfall, the water pipes and drainages turns dry, because of which this system is known as dry system. Moreover, these systems are easy to install and use, and it is effortless to identify leakages in water pipes.

Wet System - In this system, water is collected in water pipes installed beneath the ground surface. This system is called wet system because, water pipes always remains full of water even after the rainy season. However, water level in pipes remains constant and this water can be used for longer times. Also, water pipes reduces chances of water leakage into the soil.
Rain Water Harvesting In India -
In India, due to the scarcity of water, rainwater harvesting is carried out by many states, families and societies. In rural parts of India, some traditional methods are used to store rainwater for future use. These traditional methods are used in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other states of India. Let’s discuss some of these traditional methods of rainwater harvesting.
Talab -Talab are the oldest method of storing rainwater. Rain water can be stored in talab and then it can be used for consumption and other purposes.
Taanka - Taanka is one of the traditional rainwater harvesting system. Which is mostly used in Thar Desert, Rajasthan. Taanka is cylinder shape water storage built underground. The drainages and pipes move the rainwater from rooftops, road and surfaces into the taanka, and thus, the water gets stored.
In India, other traditional systems like Baoli, Kund, Jhalara, Bawari, Nadi and more are used from very long time.
Conclusion -
Each and every individual must extend their hands in storage of rainwater. This will help to reduce the problems due to scarcity of water. Above mentioned techniques will allow us and our future generations to harvest water, save water and make its proper use.