IMPACT OF RAIN WATER HARVESTING IN CHENNAI CITY

by

Ms A Jebamalar., Chennai, India.

E-mail : jebaj@yahoo.com

Location:
Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu State, the oldest of the presidential cities in
India and the fourth largest Metropolis of the country. In Chennai, Besant Nagar is taken
as a study area to carry out the impact of Rain water Harvesting. Demand for water is
high in the city due to the increased population, rapid urbanization and industrial growth.
Chennai gets an average of 1300 mm of rainfall every year, but this rainfall occurs in
short spells of a high intensity and nearly 65 percent of the rainfall is lost due to surface
runoff to the sea and evaporation. With the open space area around houses and buildings
being cemented, rain water, which drains off from terraces and the roofs, and not
percolating into the soil. Therefore, precious rainfall is being squandered, as it drains into
sea eventually. If better methods like roof top rain water harvesting techniques are
adopted, will have proper recharge and the water will be available throughout the year.
Local hydrogeological features:
Besant Nagar is situated close to the Bay of Bengal and the area has been known
to yield potable water in the past when the area was moderately populated. Due to the
construction of dwellings and rapid growth of this area in recent years, the extraction of
groundwater has increased enormously. At the same time, because of the corresponding
decrease in the unpaved area available for absorption of rainwater, the recharge of
groundwater table has also sharply come down. Such a situation renders the area
vulnerable for seawater intrusion into the land. The soil condition of this area is sandy in
nature as it lies near to the coast. The average depth of water table from ground level is
7.8 m. The water is salty in nature. All the houses have roof top RWH systems. Most of
the houses have recharge wells for RWH.
Problem description:
Ground water is the largest reservoir of liquid fresh water on the planet and is
critical for sustaining life on earth. It is an integral component of the hydrologic cycle and
is used to domestic, agricultural and industrial water needs around the world. As global
water demands rise and surface water source become further stressed and exploited,
human beings are growing increasingly dependant on ground water resources. If ground
water is used more than the replenished, then the ground water present in the aquifer will
be depleted and the ability of the aquifer to store water may eventually be diminished.
The ground water resources should be managed in such a ay that the withdrawal is kept at
pace with the recharge by considering the rain water. Hence, artificial recharge of
ground water by rain water harvesting is the only solution to improve ground water
potential in order to maintain the sustainable water resource.
Rainwater harvesting means “Catch the rain water where it falls”. It is the activity
of direct collection of rainwater. The rainwater collected can be stored for direct use or
can be recharged into ground water for later use. Rain water may be collected and
recharged into the ground water aquifers through the following simple and cost effective
methods
a) Open well method b) Bore well method
c) Percolation / Recharge pit d) Percolation/Recharge pit with bore
e) Recharge trench f) Recharge trench with bore
g) Recharge well. h) Recharge well cum bore
i) Recharge shaft

For sandy subsoil areas, percolation pit, recharge trench and recharge well( small
diameter/ shallow) may be provided. For clay subsoil areas percolation pit with bore,
recharge trench with bore and recharge well (Large diameter and deep) may be provided.
For hard rock areas, recharge well (large diameters / deep) may be provided. For effective
recharge of rain water, a combination of different structures may be used as per site
requirements viz. area of the building and soil conditions.
In cities, due to shrinking of open spaces, rainwater can be harvested and
recharged as ground water. From 2001, the concept of rainwater harvesting has been
actively promoted by the Tamil Nadu Government. The Government’s determination to
execute RWH was translated into policy direction:
• Implementation of RWH in all Govt. offices, schools, hospitals and residential
buildings made compulsory.
• RWH structures made mandatory for all buildings proposed for construction.
 • RWH became a prerequisite for obtaining new water and sewage connection.
• RWH made an in-built component for all rural and urban water supply
schemes.
The dead line to construct RWH structures was set as October 2003. It also warned the
citizens that the water supply connection would be disconnected, if RWH were not
erected. So the people invested money to build RWH structures in their houses with great
expectation. To identify whether this RWH system serves the purpose effectively and to
give feed back about the effectiveness of RWH systems to the society, this study of
“Efficacy of RWH in selected areas of Chennai city” is attempted.
Steps taken to solve the problem:
Based on the above discussion, it is clear that one should understand the present
pattern of rainfall occurrences, ground water level fluctuations and efficient methods of
RWH systems to improve ground water potential and quality. To address these issues, the
objectives of this study are framed as below:

a) to develop, carry out and analyze a questionnaire survey to derive RWH

information in the selected study area;
b) to analyze the recorded rainfall pattern, which is of prime importance for RWH; and
c) to study the impact of adopted RWH system for improved ground water quantity
and quality.
For impact study, primary data of ground water level is taken continuously from
15 wells from Sep 2004 to April 2005 in Besant Nagar and secondary data of monthly
ground water is taken from Central Ground Water Board for the years 1995 to 2004.
For quality study, totally 11 samples were taken once a month from all study areas
from Nov 2004 to April 2005 and it was analysed in wet chemistry lab in Anna
University. Analysis shows that in the year 1995, though the consumption is less i.e
approximately 51100 m3, as because of less population, this area could have possible
recharge of 32678.6 m3 though the annual rainfall is 1560.7 mm. But after the provision
of RWH i.e the year 2002, though the consumption is more i.e approximately 98550 m3,
the possible recharge was found to be 102644 m3 though the annual rainfall is 1313.4mm
which is less than the year 1995.This is the impact of RWH on ground water quantity.
Hence the recharge is increasing from 0.36 m3/ m2 to 0.65 m3/ m2 from the year 1995 to
2005, this is said to be the impact of RWH on ground water quantity.
Water quality analysis is done once in month in water quality lab for 11 samples. Water
quality parameters selected for the analysis are pH, Electrical conductivity, Total
dissolved solids, Carbonate, Bicarbonate, Total Hardness, Calcium, Magnesium and
Chloride. These parameters along with secondary data from 1995 to 2004 are checked
with IS: 10500 -1991 drinking water quality standards. In Besant Nagar TDS values are
between 500 and 6600 ppm but the permissible limit is 500-2000 ppm. Also chloride
value is between 2500 -4600 mg/l but the permissible limit is 250-1000 mg/l .So it can be
concluded that Besant Nagar is been affected by sea water intrusion as EC and Chloride
values are so high. So, RWH does not have any significant influence on ground water
quality as this area is been very badly affected by sea water intrusion.

Borewell Openwell

Recharge well
Water tank

Roof water pipe to well