Water Harvesting means storing rain water and reusing it, rather than allowing it to run off.
Water Harvesting is also called RainWater Harvesting
Main Purpose of Water Harvesting
The Main purpose of a water harvesting system is not to hold surface water, but to recharge the ground water beneath
Advantages of Water Harvesting
The advantages of Water Harvesting are
- It helps in recharging the ground water
- It helps preventing urban flooding due to excess rain
- It can reduce the water bill in urban areas
- It can be used for non-drinking purposes
- Water stored can be used for irrigation purposes
- Reduces Water flowing into the sea in coastal regions
Disadvantages of Water Harvesting
The disadvantages of Water Harvesting are
- The Rainfall is unpredictable , so we cannot be dependant on only rainfall for our water needs
- Setting up a Water Harvesting system has a high initial cost
- The Rainwater Harvesting System requires regular maintenance as it may become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, insects, rodents.
- There are storage limits of the storage tank. So, if there is very heavy rainfall, the storage tank would not be able to hold all the rainfall and it may end up overflowing
Note : Water Harvesting is different than Watershed Management
