When Nagendra Bykampadi, senior manager at Alcatel built a house within the gated community of SJR Eastwood, it made sense to have a rainwater harvesting unit installed as well. It was the year 2005, still early days, when the impending water crisis was not as worrying as it is likely to be this summer. But Nagendra wanted to augment the supply of water to his house, the primary source of which is a borewell. So to supplement the supply, it made sense, he tells me, to have a RWH unit in place.
Recharging groundwater at home
The approximate 800 litres that he and his family use every day is mainly derived from the community borewell. He tells me that he not only uses the rain water to recharge the ground water table but also filters it with a KSCST approved pop up filter and uses the water at home.
At Nagendra’s house, the catchment areas include flat and slop roofs in the building. Water flows through a pop-up filter and is stored in the common underground sump. There is an overflow pipe that connects to a 10 feet depth pit. As much as possible, the water isn’t let to go down the drain.
Rain water pipes
Environmentally conscious that he is, Nagendra has solar lighting systems in place in his house as well.