Abstract:
Water plays the major role in securing all possible forms of life on earth. Water
harvesting has become the order of the day in most parts of our world on account of the
vagaries of monsoon, mismanagement of irrigation water and over exploitation of surface and
subterranean water storage for domestic, agricultural and industrial needs. The primary
objective of any water harvesting system is to arrive at optimal water budgeting in order to
sustain crop production and to provide water reserves for domestic and industrial usage. The
case study taken up in KCAET campus encompasses a systematic procedure for exploring
rain water harvesting potential towards water budgeting for multiple water usage.
The study has covered overhead, surface and subterranean water harvesting strategies
with the principal objective of creating an orderly water budgeting schedule for judicious
usage of water for agricultural, domestic and laboratory water needs. Designs related to roof
top water harvesting, farm ponds for supplemental irrigation and percolation ponds for
ground water recharge have been made based on an extensive rainfall analysis. Contour map
of the area was prepared and the sites for the farm ponds were identified.
The annual roof top water harvesting potential of the office, residential buildings and
hostels were determined. The drinking water needs of KCAET campus can be met
completely from the harvested water. The remaining roof water can be used to meet the
sanitary, laboratory and miscellaneous demands in the buildings. Similarly, excess water
stored in the crop fields after meeting their requirements can be used for irrigation during the
dry spells. The water collected can also be used for recharging the groundwater.
