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Daddy, Can We Go to the Rainwater Harvesting Theme Park?06-21-10 | News

Daddy, Can We Go to the Rainwater Harvesting Theme Park?

The Rainwater Harvesting Theme Park in Bangalore, India will showcase 26 models of rainwater harvesting.

According to the Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting (Texas Water Development Board, third edition, 2005 ww.twdb.state.tx.us/iwt/rainwater/docs.asp#title-01) more than 400 full-scale rainwater harvesting systems have been installed by professional companies in central Texas, and more than 6,000 rain barrels have been installed in Austin through incentive programs in the past decade. The manual also reports an estimated 100,000 residential harvesting systems are in use in the U.S.

At present, there are no national standards or regulations for rainwater harvesting systems. In 2005, the 79th Texas Legislature established the Rainwater Harvesting Evaluation Committee (HB 2430) and directed the Texas Water Department Board (TWDB) and three other agencies to formulate recommendations for minimum water quality standards for potable and nonpotable indoor use, treatment methods, conjunctive use with existing municipal water systems and ways the state can further promote rainwater harvesting.

What began as an idea for a rainwater harvesting demonstration project at the Hunt School in Hunt, Texas grew into a 20,000-gallon system that waters the school?EUR??,,????'?????<

Yes, rainwater harvesting is drawing renewed attention in the states these days, but if you google the subject, you’ll find that India is leading the charge. Bangalore, India, for instance, has been facing acute water shortage for the last two years. The city supplies 900 million liters of water to the city per day (237,754,847 gallons), whereas the demand for water is 1.3 billion liters. The Cauvery River is the main source of water for the city.

To create awareness about rainwater harvesting in Bangalore, the city is setting up a “rainwater harvesting theme park” that launches in July. Spread over 48,000 sq ft., the park seeks to promote rainwater harvesting in a “creative and unique” way, with 26 models of rainwater harvesting and an information center that teaches people how to do it themselves.
In Bangalore’s rural areas, most people do store rainwater, but the urban population does not. Only 30 years ago, areas around homes and offices used to be unpaved and the rainfall percolated into the soil and into the water table. Paving now proliferates.