Water Conservation

Maithreyan S
2020118013
Why The Need For Water Conservation
Isn’t it abundant ?

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 Need For Conservation
• Draining Water rapidly can cause scarcity
in a local level
• Conserving water saves energy. Energy is
needed to filter, heat and pump water to
your home
• Reduces your carbon footprint.
• Helps to keep wetland habitats topped up
for animals like otters, water voles, herons
and fish.

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 Water Conservation Strategies
(1)Decreasing run-off losses
(2)Reducing evaporation losses
(3)Storing water in soil
(4)Reducing Irrigation Losses
(5)Re-Use Water
(6)Increasing block pricing

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 Decreasing Water Run off

What is Water Run-Off?

Runoff is nothing more than water "running off" the land
surface.

The reduction of Water runoff can be achieved by using contour cultivation, terrace
farming, water spreading, chemical treatment or improved water-storage system.

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 Contour cultivation

• Contour cultivation on small furrows

and ridges across the slopes trap
rainwater and allow more time for
infiltration.
• Terracing constructed on deep soils
have large water-storage capacity.
• On gentle slopes trapped run off is
spread over a large area for better
infiltration.

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Terrace Farming
Terrace cultivation is a method of growing crops on sides of hills or mountains by
planting on graduated terraces built into the slope.

Conservation-bench terracing involves construction of a series of benches for catching

the run off water.

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Water Spreading

Water spreading is done by channeling or

lagoon-levelling. In channeling, the water-flow
is controlled by a series of diversions with
vertical intervals. In lagoon leveling, small
depressions are dug in the area so that there is
temporary storage of water.

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Chemical treatment

Chemical wetting agents (Surfactants)

They increase the water intake rates when added to normal irrigated soils.

Chemical conditioners
like gypsum (CaSO4 .2H2 O) when applied to sodic soils improve soil
permeability and reduce run off. Another useful conditioner is HPAN
(hydrolysed polyacrylonitrile).

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 Reducing Evaporation Losses

• This is more relevant in humid regions. Horizontal barriers of asphalt placed

below the soil surface increase water availability and increase crop yield by 35-
40%. This is more effective on sandy soil but less effective on loamy sand soils.
• A co-polymer of starch and acrylonitrile called 'super slurper’ has reported to
absorb water up to 1400 times its weight. The chemical has been found to be
useful for sandy soils

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 Storing water in soil
Storage of water takes place in the soil root zone in humid regions when the soil is
wetted to field capacity. By leaving the soil fallow for one season water can be made
available for the crop grown in next season.

(i) Groundwater does not evaporate like open

water bodies such as river and lake.
(ii) Groundwater also helps in recharging wells by
increasing their water level.
(iii) It also provides moisture for the vegetation over
a vast area as roots can absorb the groundwater
and provide to growing crop.
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 Rain Water Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting is a technique of increasing the recharge of groundwater by
capturing and storing rainwater. This is done by constructing special water-harvesting
structures like dug wells, percolation pits, lagoons, check dams etc.

Why ?
• Rainwater, wherever it falls, is captured and pollution of this water is prevented.
• Rainwater harvesting is not only proving useful for poor and scanty rainfall regions
but also for the rich ones.

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The annual average rainfall in India is 1200 mm, from June to September. It is an
astonishing fact that Cherapunji, the place receiving the second highest annual
rainfall as 11450 mm still suffers from water scarcity. The water flows with run off
and there is little vegetation to check the run off and allow infiltration. Till now
there is hardly any rain-water harvesting being done in this region, thereby losing
all the water that comes through rainfall.

Rainwater harvesting has the following objectives:

(i) to reduce run off loss
(ii) to avoid flooding of roads
(iii) to meet the increasing demands of water
(iv) to raise the water table by recharging ground water
(v) to reduce groundwater contamination
(vi) to supplement groundwater supplies during lean season

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Traditional Rain
Water Harvesting
• It is an old practice in high rainfall
areas to collect rainwater from roof-
tops into storage tanks.
• In foot hills, water flowing from springs
are collected by embankment type
water storage.
• In Himalayan foot-hills people use the
hollow bamboos as pipelines to
transport the water of natural springs.
• Rajasthan is known for its 'tankas'
(underground tanks) and khadins
(embankments) for harvesting
rainwater. 14
Paar System
• It is a common place where the
rainwater flows from the agar
(catchment) and in the process
percolates into the sandy soil.
• In order to access the rajani pani
(percolated water) kuis or beris are dug
in the agor (storage area).
• Usually 6 to 12 kui are dug in a region

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 Khadin System
A khadin is a construction that is designed to
harvest surface run off water for agriculture.
• The 'Khadin' system of rainwater harvesting
practised in Rajasthan has a long earthen
embankment known as bund, which is built
across the edges of sloping farmlands.
• The rainwater flows down the slope and is
stopped by bund.
• It then flows into a reservoir.
• This water from the reservoir and shallow
dug well seeps down the land and refills the
ground water.
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 Johad System
Johads are small earthen check dams
that capture and conserve rainwater,
improving percolation and
groundwater recharge.
They are spread across more than 650
villages in Alwar district, Rajasthan.
They Have Mud and rubble barriers to
prevent overflowing and act as check
dams for erosion control

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 Modern Techniques of Rain Water
Harvesting
• In arid and semi-arid regions artificial ground water recharging is done by
constructing
• shallow percolation tanks.
• Check-dams made of any suitable native material (brush, poles, rocks,
plants, loose rocks, wirenets, stones, slabs, sacks etc.) are constructed for
harvesting runoff from large catchment areas.
• Unuderground dams

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Percolation Tanks and Pits

Percolation tank is an artificially created

surface water body, submerging in its
reservoir a highly permeable land, so
that surface runoff is made to percolate
and recharge the ground water storage.

Percolation pit is a water conservation

technique. They help in recharging the
groundwater of an area. The base of a
percolation tank is constructed with
porous materials like soil, silt, loam, clay,
sand, gravel, etc.

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Ground water dam
Groundwater flow can be intercepted
by building groundwater dams for
storing water underground. As
compared to surface dams,
groundwater dams have several
advantages like minimum evaporation
loss, reduced chances of contamination
etc

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Roof Top Harvesting
This is a low cost and effective
technique for urban houses and
buildings
The rain water from the top of the roofs
is diverted to some surface tank or pit
through a delivery system which can be
later used for several purposes. Also, it
can be used to recharge underground
aquifers by diverting the stored water
to some abandoned dug-well or by
using a hand pump

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 Watershed Management
What is a Water Shed?
The term watershed describes an area of land that
drains down slope to the lowest point. The water
moves through a network of drainage pathways,
both underground and on the surface.

Generally, these pathways converge into streams

and rivers, which become progressively larger as
the water moves on downstream, eventually
reaching an estuary and the ocean. Other terms
used interchangeably with watershed include
drainage basin or catchment basin. Watersheds
can be large or small. 22
Watershed management

Watershed management is a term used to describe the process of implementing land use
practices and water management practices to protect and improve the quality of the
water and other natural resources within a watershed by managing the use of those land
and water resources in a comprehensive manner.

Why ?
The watersheds are very often found to be degraded due to uncontrolled, unplanned and
unscientific land use activities. Overgrazing, deforestation, mining, construction activities,
industrialization, shifting cultivation, natural and artificial fires, soil erosion and ignorance
of local people have been responsible for degradation of various watersheds

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Watershed
management practices

• Water harvesting
• Afforestation and agroforestry
• Mechanical measures to reduce
soil erosion and water runoff
losses
• Scientific Mining and Quarrying
• Public participation

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Thank You!