Study on the effects of rain water harvesting system in an urban area

Water is one of the basic amenities of living organisms but its accessibility varies spatially and temporally. The basic source of water for both Surface Water (SW) and Groundwater (GW) is the same, namely precipitation. Precipitation, in the form of rainfall, occurs only for a few days in a year. Population, water marketing and urbanization have increased the water demand which in turn also increased the groundwater exploitation. There is a need to study the hydro geological condition to prevent from excess pumping and pollution, as well as to improve the artificial recharge technique and sustainable development of groundwater resources. The present study address the evaluation of existing rain water harvesting system and its impacts in Chennai city. Twenty wells have been identified around Adyar and Cooum river basins for this study. Depth of water levels in the well is measured between pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods and also water samples has been collected and analyzed in the laboratory. This is to evaluate a management strategy for improving the groundwater quality and quantity by means of recharge augmentation in the region for domestic purposes.