KATHMANDU: There is no doubt that denizens of Kathmandu valley have been facing a tough time due to water crisis for years now. However, this long standing crisis will no longer be a problem if denizens of the valley could adopt rainwater harvesting. 

Experts opine that if planned during the construction phase of new buildings with minimum investment one can permanently get rid of the water crisis . Resident of Dallu Narendra Man Dangol is relieved from water problems since the last four years. He has installed rainwater harvesting along with a total management plant for reusing rainwater as well as waste-water. “I planned for this system while constructing my new house and for the whole system it costs around Rs 200,000. Since then, I need not to worry about water,” shared Dangol. Citing that previously there was no option other than to buy water from tankers, he said, “It would cost around Rs 60,000 per year to purchase water. But, now rainwater harvesting has proved to be even more economical as compared to purchasing tankers of water." According to him, he stores and recharges monsoon rainwater in a storage tank and well which is adequate for his family to use even during the dry season. 

Although the concept of rainwater harvesting is not new in Nepal, people are not aware about the system. “The misconception about high costs to install is the main reason that people don’t adopt the system,” said Prakash Amatya, Founder Member of Nepal Rainwater 

Harvesting Alliance. “The cost for installation of a rainwater harvesting system is a one-time investment to get rid of the water shortage," he added.

Establishing rainwater harvesting is not a costly affair. 

If planned in construction phase of new building, it can be managed at nominal amount of investment. Rainwater harvesting is the collection of rainwater for reusing. For this, water from rooftops or catchments is collected after first flush, gets filtered in rapid stand filter and is then stored in storage tanks. 

“Any household with an area of catchment to collect rainwater can adopt this system,” said Amatya. Citing that the process of rainwater harvesting is easy and simple, he suggests to adopt the system during the construction phase of new buildings itself. According to him, it costs around Rs 30 per litre to construct a water tank.

Although rainwater harvesting is a feasible technique to cope with water scarcity, stakeholders as well as individual households are not aware of this system. “To encourage every household, the government should include this rainwater harvesting system in the housing policy. Moreover, it should introduce property tax rebates to encourage and implement this eco-friendly technique,” opined Amatya, stressing the need to make ground water recharge mandatory through rooftop pipes for each new construction.

General Manager of Smart Paani, Bijay Sharma said that there should be separate drainpipes for collecting rain-water from the terrace and a first flush mechanism to ensure quality of water and drain out water for the first 15 minutes. According to him, 143,000 litres of water can be stored on a terrace area of 1,000 sq ft per year. Citing that there is a misconception that it requires huge tanks for installing the system, he said, “The size of the tank and filter depends upon the requirement of water in the family and its purpose.” 

Opining that spending on a rainwater harvesting system is not an expense but a long-term investment, Sharma said, “It takes approximately Rs 40,000 for installing 500 litre filter excluding other expenses.” He said that rainwater being soft water can be used for drinking purpose after filtering twice in rapid stand filters. He suggests installing the system before the monsoon as it will be effective to collect water during monsoon and have regular maintenance once a year. - See more at: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Showers+of+blessing&NewsID=420191#sthash.Oooa0nFX.dpuf