	*A NEW BEGINNING*
	Urban wetlands meet CSE initiates a core committee
	*IN FOCUS*
	Null and void? A success story? The flouride menace
	*CAMPAIGN*
	Lake in news From the courtroom To save this tal Operation Baikal
	INITIATIVE
	Stories from Dewas Meerut meet Initiating change Sensitising regional media Doosra dasak Glimmer of hope History rewritten HLL harvests Water soliders The kiwi connection Exploring Ahmednagar
	FACE TO FACE
	For my home....
	TECHNOLOGY
	Bamboo-supari pits Countering flouride Techno tit bits
	CSE'S LATEST DESIGNS
	Meet the new harvesters!
	JAL YODHA
	T R Sureshchandra Arun Mathur Shivanajayya K G Vyas R Ramani
	NEWS FROM CHENNAI
	Recharge maps Bank loans for RWH Harvesting in Nilgris The Vengaivasal model 'Water wisdom' in schools
	JAL BIRADARI
	No to bore wells Ghagara revived Jal bhai, Jal bahen
	NEWS FROM GUJARAT
	Charting future City's pride
	CLASSROOM
	FUNDING AGENCY
	WATER WISDOM
	NEWS FROM ABROAD
	Afghanistan: Rebuilding Karez Kuwait: Desert bloom Africa: Stranglehold in Africa
	WATER IN NEWS
	READERS SPACE
	AN OPPORTUNITY
	BOOK/DOCUMENTS
	VISUAL WATCH
	WEB INFO
	EVENT

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Vol. 4

No. 5

October-November 2002

Bamboo-supari pits

By using abundantly available local materials like bamboo and arecanut (supari) husk, farmers of Onikeri village, Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka, has developed a simple, low cost method to replenish the water tables. A one metre long bamboo stem is cut longitudinally and all septas are removed. Both the halves when kept together look like a pipe, which is inserted in the infiltration pit of two feet by two feet measurement. The cavity of the pit is filled with one layer of areca husk topped with a layer of soil. Only the husk needs to be refilled every year. Significantly, these structures have been installed in 34 houses with community participation, covering an area of 100 acres. Sound ecological engineering, indeed! (Information by Shree Padre, a journalist)

Countering flouride

"By combining rainwater harvesting (RWH) with the application of soluble calcium, the level of flouride in soil and water can be controlled," says S K Mishra, Public Health and Engineering Department, Jaipur. (For details: skmisra5@rediffmail.com) RWH reduces the flouride concentration by 40 per cent, but within six months it regains the original level.

The method is still being tested in Jaipur. Initial results are positive but final results are yet to come.

Techno tit bits

Sewage to light up your house!
A process has been evolved that transforms wet waste from sewage farms and paper mills into a source of power - for homes, factories and cars.

Headed by Ashok Bhattacharya, the process technology group at University of Warwick, UK, extracts pure hydrogen from abundantly available wet bio-matter, using the water contents of the material. (For details: Ashok.Bhattacharya@warwick.ac.uk) The group has now received four million euro from Dutch, German and UK firms to test their lab-based technique in larger prototypes for commercial installation.