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Newsletter n° 09 - July 2005
"Rainwater Harvesting- Supply from the Sky"
Dear 1857 Rainwater Harvesters in 140 countries, this edition contains information on:
A New National Rainwater Harvesting Association in Senegal
Following the Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council www.wsscc.org WASH Forum in Dakar in November last year, representatives of four Senegalese NGO's - RADI, ENDA, ACAPES & GREEN SENEGAL - decided to create the institutional framework necessary to form a Senegalese rainwater harvesting association (Association pour la Collecte des Eaux de Pluie au Senegal - ACEPS).
Amongst ACEPS' objectives are:
West African countries are facing a severe water crisis at the moment. People in the Niger provinces of Tahoua, Maradi and Zinder are facing their worst food crisis since 1985 because of a poor rainy season.
The IRHA Secretariat wholeheartedly supports the establishment of organisations such as ACEPS & will assist them with all means at its disposal.
We strongly urge our readers in Senegal to join ACEPS. For more information, contact Mr Saliou Diouf of the African Integrated Development Network (RADI) on saliou_diouf@hotmail.com or Mr Dame Sall, the new President of ACEPS on dsall@sentoo.sn.
Following a meeting between organisations involved in the water & sanitation sector in Mali, Korotimy Thera has informed us of the intention to organise a national consultation aimed at organising rainwater harvesting activities in the country. This consultation should take place in August, usually a period of heavy rains in Mali. Please contact Koromity on koro_thera@yahoo.fr
"Rain: The Neglected Resource"
The Swedish Water House, together with the Stockholm International Water Institute & the Stockholm Environment Institute, has produced a new policy brief entitled "Rain: The Neglected Resource".
"The water necessary to produce the food required for an expanding human population is usually discussed only as an issue of blue water for irrigation (the water we use from rivers & aquifers). This discussion neglects that most food production is from rain fed farming. This is critical not least in hunger and poverty stricken areas with rapid population growth, areas that depend not on blue water but on green water from infiltrated rain (the soil moistures used by plants & returned as vapour flow). A shift in water thinking which considers soil moisture is essential in order to find realistic and sustainable options to feed the world of tomorrow. Rain: The Neglected Resource elucidates how a shift in thinking can change how we view the world's water resources."
This policy brief is available in a PDF format at:
www.swedishwaterhouse.se/images/partners/20050628141452Blue%20Green%20Policy.pdf
IRHA at S-DEV
From 11th to 13th October IRHA secretariat will be exhibiting at "S-Dev Geneva". This is a new and it is hoped annual International Platform for Sustainable Urban Development.
S-DEV Geneva is a unique event providing synergies between a high-level conference, a lively exhibition & interactive workshops. Stakeholders from the North & South, private & public sectors & 24 cities from around the world will join forces to present, showcase & debate the next generation of solutions to solve urban issues.
IRHA will be presenting urban rainwater harvesting options for groundwater recharge, flood control, drinking water & municipal uses from India, Korea, Colombia & Switzerland. The secretariat would also like an African example of urban RWH, so if you have one please do not hesitate to send us some information and pictures so that we can pick a project to present in Geneva.
See www.s-dev.org for full details.
UNICEF Spearheading Efforts to Restore RWH in Post-Tsunami Maldives
Freshwater for drinking & cooking, occurs in the Maldives in quite a unique way. Over the years, rainwater accumulates underground to form what is termed a 'freshwater lens'. This is a layer of freshwater that sits on top of the saltwater just below the surface of the islands. Dig 1 - 1 ½ meters & fresh water is found, even though the island may be no larger than 300m in diameter.
During the tsunami, Dhiffushi Island was submerged for over 3 hours. Houses were damaged & possessions washed away, but luckily nobody was killed. The freshwater lens was rendered undrinkable, as United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) water & sanitation consultant in the Maldives, Dr Peter Wurzel, explains: "Firstly, the wells were overwhelmed by the wave & filled with salty water making the water in the wells very saline. Secondly, many of the water storage tanks were washed away by the force of the wave."
23 $70,000 desalination plants were UNICEF's emergency response in the Maldives once electricity supply was re-established, but it has since promoted RWH as a longer-term solution. Collecting rainwater is much cheaper & sustainable for poor, remote island communities. It is a perfect way to improve people's supply of drinking water & reduce dependence on underground freshwater supplies.
"RWH is probably the prime source of drinking water in the Maldives. RWH storage tanks are usually located at health centres & schools & often individual homes will have small rainwater storage tanks. During a good rainy year, the storage capacity has to be sufficient to carry-over the three or four months of dry season" says Dr Wurzel.
Water quality in the Maldives is likely to improve significantly after the July monsoon, but it could be two years until groundwater gets back to its pre-Tsunami condition. For the full story see www.minivannews.com/news/news.php?id=490.
Micro Finance for the Water Sector
A regional workshop entitled "Micro Finance & Innovative Mechanisms to Achieve the
Millennium Development Goals in the Water & Sanitation Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa" will take place in Dakar, Senegal, 12th-14th December, 2005. Organised by local NGOs CREPA & ENDA, & by Streams of Knowledge & IRC of the Netherlands, the themes include:
" Micro finance in the water & sanitation sector;
" Innovative, pro-poor & low cost technologies to increase access to sustainable services;
" & Institutional approaches & mechanisms which contribute to an increase in flows of local finance to achieve the MDGs.
For more information, contact: Eva Kouassi-Komlan, CREPA, Burkina Faso, fax: +226-50366208, or e-mail reseaucrepa@reseaucrepa.org.
The promotion of RWH via micro finance is a theme that IRHA & UNEP Finance Initiative have been working on together for many months. "Scaling up RHW through micro-finance" has been announced as one of the work shop themes of the next annual SEARNET conference in Kigali, Rwanda, in November.
The Small Islands Voice
Do you live in a small island? Small Islands Voice is an inter-regional initiative focusing on small islands - both small, island, developing states & islands with other affiliations - in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean & Pacific regions. The initiative's goal is to give a voice to the general public in small islands & that this voice becomes a driving force for sustainable island development.
RWH in individual households & villages & collecting rainwater in buckets, tanks & underground cisterns; these were the options most favoured by people who wrote into a Small Island Voice forum in response to an article on Fiji's water woes. Desalination & utilising underground water supplies were other options discussed. The need to conserve water, regardless of the source, was a theme running through many of the responses. You can see all the messages in this global forum on www.sivglobal.org . To find out more about Small Islands Voice, go to www.smallislandsvoice.org
Lively Rainwater Harvesting Debate on rainwaterharvesting@yahoogroups.com
Below is an example of the lively debate on all aspects of RWH available on Yahoo. Enthusiasts & experts trade questions & answers on themes usually revolving around household level RWH, roof-top collection & storage.
Subject: Rainwater Disinfection
Neelish:
I believe that you are dreaming, or at least fantasizing that rainwater has no pathogens. It depends entirely upon what is in the atmosphere it fell through. If there are free-floating pathogens in the atmosphere, you will get them in the rainwater. Chlorination is cheaper and easier, but then an iodinator will work just as well for that type of supply system. Ozone is often too difficult to monitor and control unless you use a stabilized form of liquid ozone. It was on the market and available a few years ago, but I have not followed its sales or availability lately.
Dave Russell
Dave
I believe that you, not Neelish, "are dreaming, or at least fantasizing" that "free-floating pathogens in the atmosphere" pose a problem for rainwater harvesters. Neelish said; "the point that rainwater is free of pathogens is well taken though the moment it hits the ground it can get infected ..."
Kindly provide studies showing that a significant number of pathogens are lofted into the atmosphere, that these are able to survive marvellously effective UV & ozone purification, & that they then hitch a ride with raindrops falling upon rooftops, to infect cisterns & their brethren.. Noxious gases & toxic particulate matter are certainly potentially deadly components pervading our atmospheric canopy to be carried to earth with rainwater. But pathogens?
Once again you illustrate why elected officials should reject the advice of civil engineers who promote dams creating surface reservoirs where aquifer storage/distribution is the appropriate rainwater harvesting mode.
Jim Marple
Alpha Spring - water from the sky, but without rain
In 2000, inspired by a journey to the Middle East, Dr. Horst Walther started an intensive effort to find an efficient technique to produce water, particularly in deserts. After five years of research & development, his team has created the Alpha-Spring; an amazing & simple technique using wind & solar energy to collect moisture out of the atmosphere & produce great amounts of pure water.
Thousands of strings of tiny, egg-shaped pearls hang from the ceiling to the floor within a reactor through which wind, or even a slight breeze, flows continually. A controlled flow of hygroscopic salt solution (a solution that absorbs moisture from the air) is poured down each string & clings to the pearls as it flows downward. The solution absorbs generous quantities of moisture from the air as it descends the strings & finishes in a storage tank at the bottom of the reactor. Next a specially developed over-pressure distillation system separates pure water from the solution. Distilled water then flows through a gravel bed to add minerals & the salt solution is re-circulated to continue absorbing moisture.
Alpha-Spring technology is able to provide high quality water at any location in the world, though it works best at higher elevations as there is more wind & water can flow without the need for pumping. Pipes & expensive water systems are, therefore, not required.
This system is environmentally friendly because the water is produced near the consumer & will find its way back to the surrounding environment through the natural hydrological cycle.
Using wind & solar energy not only reduces the consumption of oil, but creates new market opportunities & jobs. Besides this, water from the Alpha-Spring is extremely suitable for regenerating spoiled soil because it has 50 times less salt (parts per million) than ordinary desalinized water.
Many of the world's deserts are actually blessed with remarkably high humidity levels & wind velocity. There is therefore great potential to produce & supply water where needed. Based upon meteorological reports, its inventors calculate that one 35 by 50 meter Alpha-Spring installation built in the Middle East area would be able to deliver approximately 1.2 million cubic meters of water per year. A small prototype is being tested & the goal is to develop the Alpha-Spring technique to a production stage within the next couple of years. Alpha-Spring aims to produce 1m3 for € 2. For more information write to: mail@horst-walther.de .
The Latin American & Caribbean Water Prizes - PLACA
The Latin American and Caribbean Water Prizes (PLACA) are designed to promote the International Decade for Action "Water for Life" 2005-2015.
PLACA Water Prizes will be awarded to individuals, communities, organizations or businesses in honour of water-related achievements. This annual event will also include PLACA Junior Water Prizes aimed at stimulating the interest of Latin American & Caribbean young people up to age 21 in water-related activities.
The work of nominees should have proven impact in one of the following water-related thematic areas: Applied Hydrological Research; Water Education & Capacity Building; Safe Drinking Water & Sanitation; Integrated Watershed Management; Water for Development; Sustainable Water Use; Water & Women.
Nominations of worthy rainwater harvesters for the 2005 PLACA Water Prizes must be received by 31 August, 2005. For information & guidelines please visit: www.cathalac.org.
King Hassan II Great World Water Prize
The $100,000 King Hassan II Great World Water Prize will be awarded at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico in March 2006. Open to either an organisation or an individual it honours outstanding achievements in any aspect of water resources management (scientific, economic, technical, environmental, social, institutional, cultural or political). Under the theme, "Cooperation & solidarity in the fields of management & development in water resources", the Prize was jointly established by the Government of Morocco & the World Water Council in 2000, as a tool for these institutions to stimulate awareness & reflection.
The nomination period runs until 30th September, 2005. For detailed information visit:
www.worldwatercouncil.org/hassan_II_prize/index.shtml
or write to Mélanie Giard at: hassan_II_prize@worldwatercouncil.org.
Publications & Films
New from International Water Association Publishing is "Urban Stormwater Management in Developing Countries". This book covers a wide range of methods & approaches to improve the understanding & ability of local stakeholders to solve storm water problems within the framework of integrated urban water management. As well as structural interventions, the book describes various non-structural approaches for flood mitigation & pollution control. For further details & other titles visit:
www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=isbn1843390574
India's Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) has brought out a powerful compilation of 11 films on the environment which provide critical links between information & understanding. Two of are:
"Harvest of Rain" (48 mins, VHS/VCD, Rs 750 / US $25) is dedicated to India's traditional water harvesting systems. One of the basic principles of water management is simplicity itself - conserve water where it falls. But we tend to chase hydraulic nightmares: big dams and canals. Age-old wisdom lies forgotten. The camera wanders through Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan & Tamil Nadu, recording the profound science of the people. Get to know a wide variety of water management systems as a function of differing ecological terrains.
"Thar - Secrets of the Desert" (52 mins, VHS/VCD, Rs 750 / US $25) Watch the diverse social & cultural practices which enabled large populations to survive in the harsh Indian desert environment. The villages of Thar, in Rajasthan, have amazing systems of water harvesting. Similarly, desert farmers have devised an ingenious system to grow & maintain sources of fodder. Today, it is those villages that have not yet been 'modernised' that have water & fodder during periods of drought, unlike other 'developed' villages who wait for water tankers & fodder trucks from neighbouring states.
See www.cseindia.org or contact films@cseindia.org.
Dates for your Diaries
An UGC-sponsored national seminar on "Arsenic pollution in West Bengal & Awareness generation programme" will be held 5-6 August, 2005, at Srikrishna College, West Bengal, India. According to Somnath Chakraborty (e-mail somnathxp@yahoo.com or call +91 98 3041 8671), RWH as a solution to arsenicosis and its resulting socio-economic effect on the people is a relatively new concept there & the organisers would like to have an abstract & later on a full paper for the seminar.
A side event entitled "The Rainwater Advantage: Policy & Practice in Africa and India" will take place on Monday, 22 August, during 2005 World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. The convenors are the Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), Regional Land Management Unit (RELMA) at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). This side event will highlight the trans-continental collaboration between CSE & the Kenya-based RELMA. Presentations include: "The Imperative of Rainwater Harvesting" by Ms. Sunita Narain, Director, CSE; "The India-African Programme: What We Do & Why" by Ms. Sumita Dasgupta of CSE, and Mr. Maimbo Malesu of RELMA. There will also be a panel discussion of key politicians/policy makers from India & Africa, entitled "Bringing to the Centre Stage the Issues that are Equally Relevant in both the Continents."
Annual SEARNET Conference, "Rainwater Harvesting in Eastern & Southern Africa", will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, 28th-30th November. It is organised jointly by SEARNET, the Rwandan Rainwater Harvesting Association & the Ministry of Land, Environment, Forestry, Water & Mines. The purpose of the conference is to network & facilitate cross-fertilization of knowledge & experiences in RWH within the Eastern & Southern Africa region as well as with counterparts in the South Asia region. Workshop themes are: Policy issues on RWH in Africa; Scaling up of RWH through micro-finance; Standardization of RWH; Quality issues & research areas. For full information see www.searnet.org or contact nilerwa@rwanda1.com .
The 14th Conference of the International Soil Conservation Organisation (ISCO) will take place 14-19 May 2006, in Marrakech, Morocco. This forum for experts in various disciplines will focus particularly on semi-arid environments which provide many challenges for the sustainable management of natural resources & adequate food production for a perpetually growing population. Topics will include: water management in a semi-arid environment; desertification; economic evaluation of land degradation; efficiency & cost of anti-erosive structures; environmental effects of soil degradation; institutional, legislative & socio-economic aspects of soil & water conservation. More information is available on
www.unesco.org/water/water_events/Detailed/1052.shtml or www.isco.org.
If you would like your newsletter in French next month then just send us an e-mail.
Best regards from the IRHA Secretariat staff