Vol.
4
No.1
February 2002
CII initiative
Confideration of Indian Industry (CII) has initiated a drive to popularise rainwater harvesting amongst its members. On February 19, its Delhi state council organised a session on water management at Delhi.
One of the CII’s member Ñ Niranjan Khatri, who is implementing rainwater harvesting in the chain of ITC hotels began the session by sharing his experiences of catching rain in his residential colony in Gurgaon.
During the discussion an important query was raised by S Roy, chairman of Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment on the possibility of rainwater harvesting contaminating groundwater. Katri explained that the entry of bacteria or suspended materia
ls could be prevented by constructing recharge structures at a distance from existing borewells or by diverting the roof water well above the aquifers. S B Singh of Central Ground Water Authority (CGWB) while contesting Khatri’s explanation said that CG
WB is directly recharging rainwater into the aquifers. He said that since rainwater is pure, the fears related to contamination are baseless.The session convinced the participants to harvest rainwater, but they also raised the need to evolve an effective system to monitor the water quality before it is being recharged.
For further information:Deepak Pandhi,
CII (Northern Region), New Delhi
Email: deepak.pandhi@ciionline.org Do you want to test the quality of the water, you are consuming everyday ?
| S No | Parameters | Type | Permissible limits | a.Development
Alternatives B-32, Tara Crescent Qutab Institutional Area New Delhi - 110 016 Tel: 696 7938, 656 5370, 685 1158 b.
Central Pollution Control Board c. Delhi Test House d. Shriram Institute for
Industrial Research |
| 1. | Physical | i)Turbidity | 5 ntu* | |
| ii) Colour | 10 Hazen scale | |||
| iii) Taste and Odour | 1 | |||
| 2. | Chemical | i) pH value | 6.6 | |
| ii) Hardness | 7.5 mg/l | |||
| iii) Total solids | 500mg/l | |||
| viii) Zinc | 5 mg/l | |||
| ix) Copper | 1 mg/l | |||
| x) Iron | 0.3 mg/l | |||
| xii) Arsenic | Nil | |||
| xiii) Lead | Nil | |||
| xvii) Cyanide | Nil | |||
| 3. | Biological and Microorganic | Coliform bacteria | Nil | |
| 4. | Radiological ?- | a emitters | Nil | |
| ß emitters | Nil |