International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Biotechnology

Water is most precious natural resource and a universal asset. Water has remained the backbone of all the early civilizations. The world population has tripled but the use water for human purposes has multiplied six fold. Leading experts on water resources are warning that the world is fast heading towards a “water shock”. Proper planning, development, management and optimal utilization of water resources are paramount importance for socio - ecological development. Water harvesting is an age practices are emerging as a new paradigm on water resources in development and management to promote water harvesting and ground water recharge in urban and rural areas. Rainwater harvesting are relatively more equitable and environmentally sound. A study was conducted at Allahabad Agricultural Institute - Deemed University to find the possibility of rainwater harvesting from the roof of Biotechnology Building. For this the last ten year daily rainfall data was analysed and future rainfall was predicted with 75 percent probability limit. The estimated rainfall at 75 percent probability limit was 547.8 mm with recurrence interval of 1.33 years. The four month rainfall was considered (June to September) to estimate the runoff from the roof top. The economics of harvested water was also estimated considering the useful life of the structure as 25 years. The designed dimensions of the reservoir were estimated 12x10x3.05 m with the storage capacity of 366 m³ and the cost of storage of harvested water was estimated 0.10 per litre.