As the world faces increasing water scarcity due to various reasons such as climate change, overuse, and wastage of existing water resources, It becomes increasingly important to work towards water conservation for a sustainable environment. As groundwater accounts for the primary source for drinking water catering to various everyday needs be it household or industrial. A dug well recharge augments the groundwater to ensure long term sustainability.
Dug wells are one of the major sources of drinking water in rural India. Due to summer months and depleting groundwater, many of these wells become dry. WaterAid is working on dug wells recharge through rainwater harvesting.
In this model, the rooftop of a household is converted into a catchment, directing the harvested rainwater to go through a pipe attached with conventional filters into a well. This ensured the majority of well that has become dry in summer to become working with marked improvement in water availability and quality.
To date, 699 dug wells have been recharged under the SAS project in both Elappully & Pudussery Gram Panchayats with community support. The recharge of dug wells has been effective and the tremendous efforts put in by those working on the SAS project and reiterates how every drop of water counts and takes us one step ahead in tackling water scarcity.
Since 2018, 86 million liters of water have been collected by converting over 15.3 acres of roofs into catchments in both the Gram Panchayats.
