In the present situation management and distribution of water has become truly essential. As the water crisis continues to become severe, there is an immense necessity of reform in water management system. The process is technically termed as Rainwater harvesting.

The term is being frequently used these days; though, the concept of water conservation is not new for India. Water resource management has evolved and developed centuries ago. The process refers to the technique of increasing the natural filtration of rainwater into the underground formation by some artificial methods. A conscious gathering and storage of rainwater to accommodate demands of water, for drinking, household purpose and irrigation is truly imperative.

Water is our most valuable natural resource and something that most of us take for granted. We are now becoming more and more responsive of the importance of water to our endurance and it’s limited supply, particularly in a dry continent.

The accumulation of rainwater from the roofs of buildings can easily take place within cities and towns. All that is needed to gather this water is to steer the flow of rainwater from roof gutters to a rainwater storage tank. Water can thus be stored for future uses.

If you are dependent on collected rainwater and are not attached to a town’s water supply, then the water collected plays a significant role in your life. If you are from the city, then it is feasible to substitute all or, at least, a considerable portion of your fresh water requirements by the capture and storage of rainwater from your roof.

(i) Surface runoff harvesting

(ii) Roof top rainwater harvesting

By collecting water directly, we can considerably decrease our reliance on water storage dams. This places a smaller amount pressure on these dams and can potentially decrease the need to enlarge these dams or build new ones. Accumulating and using your own water can also notably reduce your water bills. By collecting water, the flow of storm water too gets reduced and this lessens the possibility of overloading the storm water systems in our neighbourhoods.

Good drinking water can be obtained from fracture zones in hard rock. But drilling without site investigation (survey) seldom yields water in usable quantities. Effective water development programs must include carefully conducted geophysical and geological investigations (survey).