Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting
In areas that are dry and where water in sparse in general (e.g. hills, urban and coastal areas), it is important to collect water for use when there is shortage and a great way to do this is by rooftop rainwater harvesting. This is basically a process in which rainwater from the roof is collected in a reservoir or is directed for ground water recharge.
Reduced load for storm drains to deal with, yards and roads clear of rainwater and flooding, reduced soil erosion and better quality groundwater (i.e. decreased pollutants), are some of the other benefits of practicing rooftop rainwater harvesting.
The main components of a rooftop water harvesting system are the catchment, coarse meshes, gutters, conduits, first flushing valves, filters and a reservoir, which is usually a sump.
The part of the system that receives direct rainfall and supplies water to it is called the catchment and in this case it is the roof. Suitable roofs for this are reinforced cement concrete (RCC) roofs and metal roofs made of corrugated sheets of galvanized steel. A coarse mesh removes debris from the water entering from the catchment into the gutters.
Gutters are on the eaves of the roof and the width of the gutter should be proportional to the amount of water it must carry. Gutters can be made of PVC or galvanized steel. The conduit refers to PVC or galvanized steel pipes that carry water from the gutter towards the reservoir.
A diversion valve also called the first flush device is used to get rid of water from the first rain of the season as this is bound to be polluted by atmospheric chemicals and contaminants as well as those from the catchment itself.
Many types of filters are used to clean rainwater before using it. Sand and charcoal filters are popular. For large rooftops, bigger filters need to used that are usually in the form of three concentric circles, the outermost of which contains sand, the second gravel and the innermost pebbles. A perforated pipe feeds water into the filter.
While filtered water is ok for domestic use, chlorination has to be done for more focused uses. For drinking it, it has to be treated using an RO or UV filter first.
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