scholarly journals Rainwater harvesting: a means of ensuring groundwater resources of the Barind, NW Bangladesh

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Golam Shabbir Sattar

The present study focuses on rainwater harvesting for irrigation and homestead purposes. The undulatory Barind Tract (Pleistocene terrace) covers about 7,250 sq. km and is underlain by thick clay-rich palaeosol sequences. Groundwater of this region is used as the only resource to meet the increasing irrigation demand for production of food to nourish over a million people. Thick clay beds at the top of aquifer and discontinuous subsurface proximal recharge areas have significantly reduced both vertical and lateral recharge potential. Groundwater domain of the Barind Tract has also reached a critical state due to low rainfall, scarcity of surface water sources, and unplanned tapping of groundwater by ever-increasing number of tube wells. As a result, overdraft of groundwater is quite evident. The present situation apparently poses a serious threat to the ecosystem of the study area. To stop further deterioration of groundwater development in the Barind Tract, a rainwater harvesting technique was tested by excavation of ponds at on-farm level. Results of a three-year long experiment demonstrated that an appropriate and timely intervention helps the community to overcome the problem of increasingly acute water shortage. The present study revealed that the rainwater harvesting is very cost-effective and may prevent a potential economic and social disaster of the Barind Tract.

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stavros Yannopoulos ◽  
Ioanna Giannopoulou ◽  
Mina Kaiafa-Saropoulou

Nowadays, available water resources face severe pressures due to demographic, economic, social causes, environmental degradation, climate change, and technological changes on a global scale. It is well known that rainwater harvesting, a simple and old method, has the potential to supplement surface and groundwater resources in areas that have inadequate water supply. In recent decades, many countries have supported the updated implementation of such a practice to confront the water demand increase and to reduce the frequency, peak, and volume of urban runoff. These considerations motivate interest in examining the current situation and the prospect of further development of this method worldwide. The present paper aims at the investigation of the current situation of rainwater harvesting (RWH) as an alternative water source to confront water scarcity in various countries around the world. In particular, the paper presents the following: (a) the causes of water shortage; (b) a concise historical overview of the temporal development of the RWH method; (c) the evolution of the concept of RWH; (d) the efforts to renew interest in RWH; and (e) incentives and perspectives for the spreading of the RWH method in various countries worldwide.


In the present scenario of global warming, the availability of drinking water is the main concern. The problem of water shortage tackled in reliable scientific approaches. Rainwater harvesting is one of the best practices in collecting and storing rainwater. This method is cost-effective in the planning and development of rainwater harvesting facilities in waterscarce areas for future needs. In this paper, a case study of Vardhaman College of Engineering, Hyderabad, in Telangana state has taken to estimate the rooftop rainwater harvesting potential. In this study, In this study to digitize the various types of rooftops, Google Earth Pro is used. The overall potential quantity of rainwater harvestable at the institutional level can be assessed by using ArcGIS. Total water demand for the study area is calculated considering the existing population. Rainwater harvesting sites are identified and proposed according to the lowest elevation and drainage direction of the study area. The volume of the storage tank is designed based on daily discharge by assuming the length, breadth and height. The results of this study will demonstrate the Applications of Google Earth Pro and GIS in estimating rainwater harvesting potential to tackle the prevailing water shortage in the study area. Rainwater harvesting provides water at the point of demand, minimizes the stress on existing natural resources and also an eco-friendly solution.


2014 ◽  
Vol 77 (11) ◽  
pp. 1844-1850 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANGHYUN HAN ◽  
SHIRLEY ANN MICALLEF

Several outbreaks of Salmonella enterica infections have been linked to tomatoes. One cost-effective way to complement on-farm preventive Good Agricultural Practices is to identify cultivars with inherent decreased susceptibility to Salmonella colonization. Fruit and leaves of 13 tomato cultivars with distinct phenotypes were screened to evaluate their susceptibility to Salmonella epiphytic colonization. Field-grown fruit or gnotobiotically grown seedling leaves were spot inoculated in replicate with either Salmonella Typhimurium LT2 or a tomato outbreak–associated strain of Salmonella Newport. Initial loads of the Salmonella inocula were 2.5 log CFU per fruit and 3.5 or 7.0 log CFU per seedling. Salmonella cells were retrieved and enumerated using direct plating after 24 h of incubation at room temperature for fruit and 72 h at 26°C during the day and 18°C at night for seedling leaves. Epiphytic colonization of fruit by S. enterica was cultivar-dependent and serotype-specific, but did not necessarily correlate with leaf colonization. Fruit of cultivar Heinz-1706 were the least colonized by Salmonella Newport, while the highest populations were retrieved from fruit of Nyagous. By contrast, seedling leaves supporting the lowest populations were Florida 91 VF and the highest were Virginia Sweets for Salmonella Newport. For Salmonella Typhimurium the lowest was Nyagous and the highest was Heinz-1706 and Moneymaker. The tomato outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport attained higher population densities on fruit than did Salmonella Typhimurium, suggesting better adaptation to tomato fruit colonization. Salmonella Newport populations were significantly lower on leaves, but not fruit of the near-isogenic line Movione, compared with the parent cultivar Moneymaker, suggesting the immunity conferring gene Pto could be responding to this outbreak strain. Susceptibility of tomato fruit to Salmonella colonization is highly variable and could be one criterion for cultivar selection for cultivation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 34-37
Author(s):  
Arshad Ali ◽  
Hashim Nissar Hasim ◽  
Ashfaq Ahmad ◽  
Intikhab Ahmad Qureashi

Pakistan is subjected to rapid water shortage due to different social and environmental problems. Moreover, the drinking water is being contaminated at an alarming rate that is mostly due to the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluent and agricultural run-off. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the water quality problems of the subject area and to determine a cost effective treatment technique. The main objective was to determine the removal efficiency of microbial contamination using flocculant settling. The main pollutants identified by conducting water quality tests are arsenic, fluoride, nitrates and microbial contamination. The maximum concentration of arsenic, fluoride, nitrates and microbial contamination were observed as 12ppb, 2.2mg/L, 26mg/L and 84 colonies/100mL, respectively. During discrete settling tests performed in a 12cft column, it was noticed that the removal of microbial contamination corresponding to a detention time of 225min is 26.7% only. While working on different coagulants, it was observed that the optimum alum, lime and magnesium dosage for the removal of microbial contamination is 31.5mg/L, 10.5mg/L and 27mg/L respectively. The final results of the study suggest that the use of lime as a coagulant to improve the quality of water in terms of microbial contamination is an effective and reliable technique, both in terms of its treatability performance and cost-effectiveness, which was noticed to be 77.7%.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v8i0.4909Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Issue No. 8, 2011 JanuaryPage: 34-37Uploaded date: 17 June, 2011


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1639-1647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Ouyang ◽  
Gary Feng ◽  
John J. Read ◽  
Theodor D. Leininger ◽  
Johnie N. Jenkins

Although more on-farm storage ponds have been constructed in recent years to mitigate groundwater resources depletion in Mississippi, little effort has been devoted to estimating the ratio of on-farm water storage pond size to irrigated crop land based on pond metrics and its hydrogeological conditions. In this study, two simulation scenarios were chosen to determine such a ratio as well as to investigate pond hydrological processes using a Structural Thinking, Experimental Learning Laboratory with Animation (STELLA) model, one scenario with and the other without using pond water for irrigation for a typical pond that represented the average conditions in East Mississippi. Simulation results showed that pond water level changed moderately for conditions without using its water for irrigation, whereas pond water level changed dramatically for conditions with using its water for irrigation. A reasonable ratio of pond size to irrigated soybeans land was 1:18 if the irrigation rate was 2.54 cm/d (or 1 inch/d) and the low limit of the pond water level was drawn to near zero (0.08 m). For the ratio of 1:18, our simulations further revealed that a 1-ha soybeans land could save about 542 m3 groundwater each year. This study suggests that the STELLA model is a useful tool for estimating the ratio of pond size to irrigated crop land.


Hydrology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Kassim Ramadhani Mussa ◽  
Ibrahimu Chikira Mjemah ◽  
Revocatus Lazaro Machunda

This study attempted to delineate and map potential groundwater recharge zones of the Singida, semi-arid, fractured crystalline basement aquifer using open source remote sensing and GIS software. Various thematic maps such as lithology/hydrogeology, soil, land-cover/use, slope, lineament density, drainage density and rainfall distribution were integrated in QGIS software. Vector input layers were rasterized and resampled using QGIS wrap projection function to make sure that the grid cells are of the same size. Reclassification using SAGA and GRASS reclass algorithms in QGIS was carried out to realign the factor classes in a consistent scale, and reclassification to a scale of 1 to 5 was carried out to harmonize the results. The study identified a number of potential areas for groundwater recharge, groundwater exploration, groundwater development and potential areas for artificial groundwater recharge. Potential groundwater recharge zones for the Singida semi-arid fractured aquifer are restricted to areas with high lineament density, cultivated areas, grassland and flat to gentle slopes. The potential of groundwater recharge is also observed in areas with low drainage density. The delineated zones provide a good understanding of the potential recharge zones, which are a starting point for recharge zone protection. This blended approach can be utilized for carrying out suitability analysis using the weighted overlay analysis approach. Areas designated good and very good are recommended for artificial recharging structures as an alternative technique for enhancing groundwater recharge through rainwater harvesting. This will help to augment groundwater storage in this semi-arid environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Khamis Naba Sayl ◽  
Sadeq Oleiwi Sulaiman ◽  
Ammar Hatem Kamel ◽  
Nur Shazwani Muhammad ◽  
Jazuri Abdullah ◽  
...  

Currently, desertification is a major problem in the western desert of Iraq. The harsh nature, remoteness, and size of the desert make it difficult and expensive to monitor and mitigate desertification. Therefore, this study proposed a comprehensive and cost-effective method, via the integration of geographic information systems (GISs) and remote sensing (RS) techniques to estimate the potential risk of desertification, to identify the most vulnerable areas and determine the most appropriate sites for rainwater conservation. Two indices, namely, the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Degradation Index (LDI), were used for a cadastral assessment of land degradation. The findings of the combined rainwater harvesting appropriateness map, and the maps of NDVI and LDI changes found that 65% of highly suitable land for rainwater harvesting lies in the large change and 35% lies in the small change of NDVI, and 85% of highly suitable land lies in areas with a moderate change and 12% lies in strong change of LDI. The adoption of the weighted linear combination (WLC) and Boolean methods within the GIS environment, and the analysis of NDVI with LDI changes can allow hydrologists, decision-makers, and planners to quickly determine and minimize the risk of desertification and to prioritize the determination of suitable sites for rainwater harvesting.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 91-100
Author(s):  
Belete Berhanu ◽  
Ethiopia Bisrat

Ethiopia is endowed with water and has a high runoff generation area compared to many countries, but the total stored water only goes up to approximately 36BCM. The problem of water shortage in Ethiopia emanates from the seasonality of rainfall and the lack of infrastructure for storage to capture excess runoff during flood seasons. Based on this premise, a method for a syndicate use of topography, land use and vegetation was applied to locate potential surface water storing sites. The steady-state Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) was used to represent the spatial distribution of water flow and water stagnating across the study area and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to detect surface water through multispectral analysis. With this approach, a number of water storing sites were identified in three categories: primary sources (water bodies based), secondary sources (Swampy/wetland based) and tertiary sources (the land based). A sample volume analysis for the 120354 water storing sites in category two, gives a 44.92BCM potential storing capacity with average depth of 4 m that improves the annual storage capacity of the country to 81BCM (8.6 % of annual renewable water sources). Finally, the research confirmed the TWI and NDVI based approach for water storing sites works without huge and complicated earth work; it is cost effective and has the potential of solving complex water resource challenges through spatial representation of water resource systems. Furthermore, the application of remote sensing captures temporal diversity and includes repetitive archives of data, enabling the monitoring of areas, even those that are inaccessible, at regular intervals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-33
Author(s):  
Hassan Al-Badry ◽  
Mohammed S. Shamkhi

AbstractGroundwater is an important water source, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Recharge is critical to managing and analyzing groundwater resources despite estimation difficulty due to temporal and spatial change. The study aim is to estimate annual groundwater recharge for the eastern Wasit Province part, Iraq. Where suffers from a surface water shortage due to the region's high elevation above Tigris River water elevation by about 60 m, it is necessary to search for alternative water sources, such as groundwater use. The spatially distributed WetSpass model was used to estimate the annual recharge. The inputs for the model were prepared using the ARC-GIS program, which includes the topography and slope grid, soil texture grid, land use, groundwater level grid, and meteorological data grids for the study area for the period (2014-2019). The result shows that the annual recharge calculated using the WetSpass model (2014-2019) varied of 0 to 65.176 mm/year at an average of 27.117 mm/year, about 10.8%, while the rate of the surface runoff was 5.2% and Evapotranspiration formed 83.33% of the annual rainfall rate of 251.192 mm. The simulation results reveal that the WetSpass model simulates the components of the hydrological water budget correctly. For managing and planning available water resources, a best grasp of the simulation of long-range average geographical distribution around the water balance components is beneficial.


Author(s):  
Agus Maryono ◽  
Sindu Nuranto ◽  
Pratama Tirza Surya Sembada ◽  
Himawan Tri Bayu Murti Petrus

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