Water Source

Engineering

Rainwater Harvesting
making use of rainfall
at or near the point
where it falls

With thanks to Prof. Richard Carter,

Dr Terry Thomas, Simon Maddrell
and Matthias Saladin for their slides

Photo: M. Saladin (Skat/RWSN)

Component parts

• Catchment
a surface (impermeable or permeable)
• Collector/conveyor
a gutter, ditch, pipe
• Storage
a container, pond or reservoir, or the pore
spaces in the soil or an aquifer
• Abstraction
by gravity or by lifting/pumping
• Delivery/Application
to people, animals or plants.
Classification of water harvesting
methods (Finkel and Segerros)

Soil Lakes or subsurface

Domestic
systems – DRWH
ladder

Rung 0 Rung 1 Rung 2 Rung 3 Rung 4 Rung 5 Rung 6

Opportunist Informal Wet-season Potable only Adaptive Main source Sole source

Trees.
Bowls under Drums / Jars / small Jars / small
Jars / tanks Tanks Large tanks
roofs during small jars tanks tanks
rain

< 10 litres 200 – 1000 1000 – 2000

10 – 70 Lpc 70 – 200 Lpc 70 – 200 Lpc > 2000 Lpc
per capita Lpc Lpc
Domestic
systems – DRWH
Rungs 2/3
ladder

Rung 1

Rung 0
Domestic
Rung 6
systems – DRWH
ladder

Rung 5

Rung 4
Domestic
systems

Catchment Storage Abstraction Application

Above ground Roof or other Brick, Gravity In house

storage raised concrete, and yard
impermeable cement (animals
surface mortar, ferro- and kitchen
cement, garden)
plastic

Below ground Roof or Bucket or

storage impermeable handpump
surface
(raised or at - ditto - - ditto -
ground level)
Downpipes
• Normally these are pipes, but can be steep-sloping
gutters, chains or guide sticks.

• Difficult to join to guttering

• Flow capacity of downpipe and connection – about 3

litres/min/sq meter of drained roof

• A fat (250mm dia) downpipe can act as a buffer tank

Tanks
• There are numerous tank designs – square & curved
brick, corrugated metal, plain or reinforced cement,
rigid plastic, plastic bags, cement- or clay-lined pits.

• So choice depends on cost, availability, durability,

local building skills

• Protect against entry of surface water, light & vermin

• Tanks need an overflow

9
Tank issues
• Unit cost is currently is up to cUS20/litre. It needs to
come down to cUS5/litre. If above-ground, tank must fit
under gutters, so if high-volume it may have to be fat.

• If below-ground (usually cheaper), it needs a pump

and suitable ground conditions.

• Ideally system is designed so that the tank doesn’t

need cleaning.

• Tanks may be vandalised if not well-guarded.

10
Keeping organic debris out of tanks –
put a screen in the downpipe or in tank
entry

11
RWH Bacterial Water Quality
Quality is similar to water fetched from protected
wells – I would drink untreated RWH in a rural
area but not in an urban slum
Storage – e.g. for 4 days - cleans water by
sedimentation and bacterial die off.
No mosquito breeding if water kept dark
‘First-flush’, the dirty first 50 litres of run-off after a
dusty season of no rain, can be
• thrown away
• left to settle
• diverted into a small buffertank and used for
floor-cleaning etc.
12
First-flush diversion – ‘throw away’

13
Kigezi Diocese Water and
Sanitation Programme
(KDWSP) - Uganda

Technology – cement
mortar jars (420 litres)
Roof-gutter-storage-outlet, all
by gravity
Kigezi Diocese Water and
Sanitation Programme
(KDWSP)
Ferrocement tanks
Ferrocement tanks
4 cubic metre ferrocement tank constructed by women’s group,
Kamwezi, Uganda
Plastered brick cistern

Roof-gutter-storage-pumped outlet. (Note overflow)

Source: Technical Presentation of Various Types of Cisterns Built in the Rural Communities of the
Semiarid Region of Brazil Johann Gnadlinger, IRPAA, C. P. 21, 48900-000 Juazeiro - BA, Brazil
9th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference "Rainwater Catchment: An Answer to the
Water Scarcity of the Next Millennium." Petrolina, Brazil - July 1999
Agricultural
systems

Catchment Storage Abstraction Application

Soil storage Natural or Soil pore Plant roots On-farm,
compacted space (limits depth enhanced
ground, with (unsaturate of storage rain-fed
or without d) zone) cropping
bunds

Surface Open Gravity or On-farm,

storage - ditto - reservoir pumped irrigation
(“tank”)
Aquifer
storage - ditto - Aquifer Pumped On-farm,
irrigation
 Semi-circular terraces in Tigray, northern Ethiopia
(GTZ)

photographs by Chris Annen, GTZ (German aid programme)

Where do sand dams work?
Sand Dams are a drylands solution requiring:
• Sufficiently seasonal rivers
• Sufficiently sandy sediment
• Accessible bedrock

... and other physical

and biological soil
and water
conservation
measures: terraces,
check dams, bunds,
...www.excellent.org.uk
Reservoir
storage for
agriculture

Amhara Region, Ethiopia

A lined farm
reservoir in the UK
Engineering

• Design issues
goals/criteria – uses, volumes, reliability?
quantity - size of collecting area, volume of storage?
quality issues (inflow, storage, use)
design details
Operation, management, maintenance
post construction – keeping it working
• Financial/economic aspects
costs, benefits, choices, funding
Domestic communal RWH Kisoro,
Uganda
 P, mm

10
20
30
40
50
60
70

0
09
/2
0
11 00
/2
01 000
/2
Kisoro

04 001
/2
06 001
/2
08 001
/2
10 001
/2
0
12 01
/2
01 001
/2
04 002
/2
06 002
/2
08 002
Kisoro Daily Rainfall (mm)

/2
0
10 02
• Roof area

/2
12 002
/2
• Consumption

02 002
/2
04 003
/2
• Reservoir capacity

00
3
50m3
99m2

0.2m3/d
 Volume

0
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000

5000
26/08/00
21/09/00
17/10/00
12/11/00
08/12/00
03/01/01
29/01/01
24/02/01
22/03/01
17/04/01
13/05/01
08/06/01
04/07/01
30/07/01
Kisoro simulation

25/08/01
20/09/01
16/10/01
11/11/01
07/12/01
KISORO RWH

02/01/02
28/01/02
23/02/02
21/03/02
16/04/02
12/05/02
07/06/02
03/07/02
29/07/02
24/08/02
19/09/02
15/10/02
10/11/02
06/12/02
Comments?

01/01/03
27/01/03
22/02/03
20/03/03
 Engineering

• Design method – Practical action technical note

Microcatchment:
runoff and run-on
areas (Finkel and
Segerros)

• Runoff area
a proportion of the rainfall runs off to
downslope receiving area (run-on area)
• Cultivated, bunded, run-on area
receives rainfall and run-on, but suffers
water losses due to evaporation, seepage
and poor uniformity of distribution
Basis of
microcatchment
design

• Runoff area produces P.CR.A

(P = rainfall depth, CR = runoff coefficient, A = catchment area)

• Run-on area receives P.a + P.CR.A.E

(where a = run-on area, E = “irrigation” efficiency)
•
Ideally, total water received by run-on area should
be equal to crop water requirements CWR
• Therefore, P.a + P.A.CR.E = CWR.a

• Rearranged A/a = (CWR – P)/(P. CR.E)

Example

• Fruit trees in Lesotho

estimated CWR (Maseru): 1253mm
mean annual rainfall: 682mm
runoff coefficient: 30%
efficiency: 50%

A/a = (1253-682)/(682 x 0.3 x 0.5) = 5.6

[Example from Finkel and Segerros, 1995]

Rainwater at scale:
Thailand
(with thanks to Matthias Saladin)
Content of the
presentation:

A. Methodology
B. Short history of DRWH in Thailand
C. Findings
D. Hypotheses

34
Thailand: World
Champion in DRWH
60

50

40
DRW
30 H
urban
20 DRW
H
10 rural

0
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Percentage of people using rainwater as their main

source of drinking water over time
Source: wssinfo.org
35
 Access to improved
water sources

Richest 98
20% of 100% % Urban
population
97
Poorest % 96
20% of 95% % Rural
population

High level in terms of ACCESS and

EQUITY 36
Methodology of the
study

• Rapid Evidence Review: Literature search and review

• Interviews with different people in Thailand
• Discussions with experts and stakeholders
internationally
• Outputs: 1 report, 1 presentation

37
B. A short history of Rainwater in Thailand

38
Millennia Tradition
• Rainwater has been collected for
millennia
• For a long time, earthen jars
imported from China («Dragon
Jars»)
• National jar industry developing
after WWII
• Cluster in Ratchaburi («Jar
Town»): iron-rich soil
• Millions of jars sold through the
private sector, continues today
(but decreased)

39
Era of the Thai Jar

• 1985-1992: Jar programme, funded by

government, international and local
organizations. Training of thousands of
artisans and subsidies, leading to the
construction of 8-10 million jars.
• After that: Self supply, serviced by
private sector. Millions of jars. Courtesy
• Some agencies (gov. and NGOs) do www.upwater.org
social marketing, private sector some
CSR.
• Currently, no specific agency is actively
promoting DRWH (but private sector
very active).
40
 Thailand: World
Champion in DRWH

60

Duration of 50
Governmen
t 40
Programme DRW
30 H
urban
20 DRW
H
10 rural

0
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Percentage of people using rainwater as their main

source of drinking water over time
Source: wssinfo.org 41
C. Findings

42
 Preliminary insights I

• Good documentation about the Thai Jar Experience

exists but is not easy to find
• It soon will be available:
http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/self-
supply/access-rainwater

43
Preliminary insights II

Currently, no specific promotion campaign going on,

no lead agency - No need for promotion?

44
Rainwater happens all over
rural Thailand, and it has been
going on for centuries

45
Not only one design

Pictures courtesy
46
www.upwater.org, thtceramic.com
Factors for success

• 1. Cultural factors
• 2. Economic factors
• 3. Population, geography, climate
• 4. Dynamics

47
1. Cultural factors

• Consumption of rainwater is
highly desirable.
• Rainwater is considered the
purest of all types of water.
• People are used to the taste
of rainwater and like it.

48
Culture/traditions

Foto: JJ Harrison via Wikimedia Commons/ 49

http://www.shentop.net/news/read.php?id=303
6
Consequences of
cultural embedding
Consequences of existing habit, high desirability
and acceptance:
• No behaviour change was needed when
introducing the large jars
• Many stakeholders (Government, NGOs,
private sector) can easily justify allocating
resources to DRWH
• As jars are a status symbol (therefore the
opposite of a stigma) this helps in the
promotion process (to the contrary to
products/technologies which are considered
“for the poor only”)

50
2. Economic factors:
Affordability

Average Average GDP:

price of a 1600 USD per
Thai jar: 20 person per
USD year
51
2. Economic factors
• Demand for rainwater storage existed already
• Raw materials for cement jars are readily available
and low-cost, as well as low-cost roofing material
facilitating DRWH
• Roads are relatively good and stable; transportation
of finished jars is possible throughout the year,
allowing for mass production in a few sites
• Relatively strong private sector (mostly SMEs) which
has been developing steadily

52
3.
Geography/Populatio
n/Climate
• Mostly flat, good road access, easy transport
• Relatively homogeneous country (ethnicity,
languages, religion)
• Good market size (currently 67 million people)
• Clusters of know-how (construction,
pottery/ceramics, cement, etc.)
• Annual rainfall: 800 (Northeast) - 4’000 (South) mm,
rainy season of 4-6 months, in some parts two rainy
seasons

53
4. Dynamics

• Millions of people already were collecting and

storing rainwater before the onset of the government
programme (in the traditional earthen jars)
• The government programme trained thousands of
artisans to make the large “Thai jars” (mortar)
• After the end of the programme, these people,
supported by some companies and NGOs, took over
the initiative.
• Competition led to dynamic development.
• Demand continued to grow, based on positive
experiences with the jars and economic development

54
D. Hypotheses/Discussion

55
Hypotheses

1) Only the existence of market forces enabled the Thai

Jar programme to be successfully taken over from
government by private sector.
2) Today’s fully embedded rainwater harvesting practice is
the result of a dynamic process: in a first phase, the
government programme led to demand, mass
production, and clustered know-how, later on the
self-supply efforts led by the private sector were the
driving force.
3) Cultural factors are key and made the sustained
success possible.
4) The Thai Jar Experiences is a source of inspiration but
does not serve as blueprint for other countries today.
56
Find out more: RWSN/RAIN webinar
recordings
• https://vimeo.com/album/3171105
• http://www.rainfoundation.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/08/WaterHarvesting_lowresolution.pdf