Design and Construction of an Economic Type Large Capacity Roof Water Storage for Household Consumption

Abstract

Due to rapid urbanization coupled with population explosion, we are facing water scarcity of different order. Gravity of this situation will go up unless proper management strategy of the resources is not adopted. According to the studies conducted, one out of six persons in the developing countries do not have enough pure drinking water because of various reasons such as ground water depletion and salt water intrusion. As the best solution for these problems, we selected a project work entitled “Design of an Economic Type Large Capacity Roof Water Storage Structure for Household Consumption”. The study involved the design and construction of a polylined well for domestic purpose. We designed a polylined well for a family of four people for a dry spell of 150 days with a per capita consumption of 40 litres. The project also included the design of an upward flow pop-up screen filter which is much easier to clean and maintain compared to conventional sand filters. The roof water collection system also included a recharge pit to dispose off the excess harvested water to augment the ground water storage. The filter fabricated to clean the roof water very effectively removes the impurities from the roof top catchments. The quality of the harvested water was tested to ensure the quality standards for potability and the results showed that the quality of stored water was meeting the standards of drinking water. The system was recharging a huge quantity of water which otherwise would go of as surface runoff. The unit cost of the roof water storage system was Rs. 1.20/-, very low compared to the existing storage structures. The life expected for the polylining was of 10 years and 25 years for rest of the components of the structure. The project has succeeded in achieving its objectives and is running smoothly till now in our campus and we expect the same in the future. It is hoped that the proposed rain water harvesting system can be recommended to the households facing water scarcity in Kerala.