GRAM - Groundwater Resource Allocation and Management

Abstract:
Women in rural India travel long distances to get water and this has adverse effects
on their lives. These walks average twenty kilometers a day where they carry a
volume of fifteen liters every trip. This not only increases their exhaustion, but also
creates a negative impact on one’s health. An efficient plan for managing the water
resources in a village and its robust storage will prove to be a crucial step in
improving accessibility, thereby reducing the travel time. This can be achieved by
integrating ancient practices with current technological advancements to improve
the quality of the women of rural India.

Background:

The world’s water scenario hasn’t seen a darker phase than it is in now. The crisis
for clean water is only going to keep increasing by the day and the need for water
harvesting methods is on an all-time rise. Even during the most acute crisis,
somehow the cities always find their way out of the problem with the help of all the
sophisticated equipment’s they possess, sucking out water in quantities more than
their limit. The groundwater has lost its dynamics, leading to the villages
surrounding cities facing all the problems. Water shortage is one problem that
prevails throughout the year in most villages. Looking at this scenario, we notice
the that the concept of Tragedy of the commons is prevalent in many ways. As a
part of our research on the crisis, we chose the district of Thanjavur, and following
are some of our findings.

Thanjavur is a commercially and culturally well-known city in the southernmost

state of Tamil Nadu. The district of Thanjavur comprises of the headquarters city of
Thanjavur and 800 odd villages. The main source of water for the district happens
to be water from wells and the groundwater. Since almost all the wells have dried
up, most of the cultivators are dependent on groundwater. But groundwater level
has now reduced to such an extent that, it is not available even at a depth of 500
ft. Out of the 90 ponds and lakes that existed in all of these villages, today only 15
to 20 can be found. The others have been found to be encroached slowly over a
period of time. Among the 20 fresh water bodies, only very few can be used and
the ones that are drying up are turning into waste landfill areas. The water present
in ponds are contaminated by industrial and poultry run offs, which leads to an
algal bloom in the water body, thereby making it unfit for consumption in any form.

“We walk around 12 km every day to get even the minimum supply of water we
need for our day to day activities. For the past three months we have had almost
no water supply. The water distribution system is unequal. Non domestic centers
just 5 km from here have adequate supply of water whereas our pipes have run
dry.” grieves Vaidehi, a female farmer from the village of Vallam Puthur, Thanjavur.

Statement of Problem:
Extending the research findings from the villages in Thanjavur district to all the
villages in the country, we observe a redundant pattern of water crisis prevailing in
almost every other household, which requires the women of the house to travel
long distances to fetch water from surrounding places with water availability, to
satisfy the house’s daily requirements. This is found to have a negative impact on
the mental and physical health state of these women.

Research and Technical Report:

Problems are meant to be solved, and not merely be complained about. As we look
at the solutions to the water shortage in villages, we would like to categorize it as
Long term solutions and Short term solutions, simply because a combination of
these two together is how we vision as the best path to a country without problems
like these.
Long term solutions:
Rain water is an important source of freshwater, essential for the survival of all
living things on planet. We recognize that harvesting rainwater is the best way to
tackle water crisis. Most villages hardly have a rainwater harvesting mechanism in
place due to reasons like lack of awareness, facilities and infrastructural facilities.
Ditch model of rainwater harvesting:
One of the steps in the water cycle, as planned by Mother Nature, is filling up of
water bodies and percolation of rainwater back into earth to revive the groundwater
table. Ever since civilization and industrialization, the water cycle has been highly
disturbed, with declining number of water bodies and increasing percentage of
concrete land cover, leading to channel encroachment. Due to this, most rainwater
runs off into the oceans, thereby becoming unusable. One must be thinking that
this isn’t the scenario in villages due to very less concrete cover in these places.
But, water percolation is still not as much as it should be, due to the flattened soil
to build houses or path ways. Hence we have come up with a design, which we call
the ditch model, to increase the percentage of rainwater percolation.
In the proposed ditch model, we incorporate drain like structures called ditches to
be constructed alongside roads. These ditches are to collect runoff rainwater and
properly channelize them to the groundwater table, thereby not letting the hand
pumps and bore pumps in the area to not run dry.

Short term solutions:

Nature has always inspired us to find innovative solutions for various issues. When
faced with a complex problem that requires solutions that our human mind can’t
conceive, it is sometimes best to turn to nature. It is inventive and resourceful.

a) Net Harvesting: An adaptation of spider webs -

Certain plants and insects pull water right out of the air from the fog that drifts in
from nearby oceans or water bodies. This technique was mimicked on a larger scale
to collect potable water. Nets are used as fog catchers to harvest moisture from air.
Fog-harvesting systems generally consist of a vertical mesh, sort of like an
oversized tennis net. Key to efficient harvesting of the tiny airborne droplets of fog
are three basic parameters - the size of the filaments in those nets, the size of the
holes between those filaments, and the coating applied to the filaments. Multiple
nets deployed one behind another can extract even more water. The water
collected can then be stored and connected to houses through pipes.
Link to Net Harvesting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6GNY1c457o

b) Warka Water -
The Warka Water harvesting technique and construction system was inspired by
several sources. Many plants and animals have developed unique micro- and nano-
scale structural features on their surfaces that enable them to collect water from
the air and survive in hostile environments. By studying the Namib beetle’s shell,
lotus flower leaves, spider web threads and the integrated fog collection system in
cactus, specific materials and coatings are identified that can enhance dew
condensation and water flow and storage capabilities of the mesh. The termite
hives have influenced the design of Warka’s outer shell, its airflow, shape and
geometry. Also, looking at local cultures and vernacular architecture, traditional
Ethiopian basket-weaving techniques have been incorporated in Warka’s design.
Link to Warka Water - http://www.warkawater.org

c) Super hydrophilic and Super hydrophobic surfaces: An adaptation of

Namib desert beetle -
The surfaces are modelled after the back of the beetle, called Stenocara found in
the Namib desert. The beetle has waxy bumps, some of which are hydrophobic
(water-repellant), repelling water onto the other bumps, which are hydrophilic
(water-loving). Then the beetle tips its head and drinks the water that collects on
its back. Nanoscale super hydrophilic and super hydrophobic surfaces can be
created that are capable of applying the water collection system to practical human
use.

Applications:
Development of wastelands which are spread over 80 million ha and accelerating
soil erosion and runoff surface water, as improving the productivity of these barren
lands, will help in conserving water while contributing to food production and
biodiversity enrichment. The short term solutions proposed are not just water
harvesting methods, but also dehumidifiers, that help keep the atmospheric
humidity low and comfortable.