Water Scarcity Crisis: How Harvesting Pits Offer a Cost-Effective Solution

What is a Water Harvesting Pit? How is it constructed? Why is it important?

Strongly committed to WASH standards, water scarcity is a key aspect of CF projects. One of the most cost-effective solutions to this problem is the installation of Water Harvesting Pits: a structure designed to capture and store rainwater for later use. A WHP also helps avoid flooding and excessive water on school campuses caused by various factors: torrential rain, leaky pipes, or the presence of rocky soil with poor drainage. Installing a WHP ensures that water overflow reaches the natural water table.

Excess water and messy piping on our school campuses in India before installation of Water Harvesting Pits

Digging a WHP is a tiring, manual process. A long metal pole is firmly pounded into the ground and moved in a circular motion to loosen the hard-packed soil. This is removed and the pole is pounded deeper. The action continues until a desired depth is reached. Next, stones are added, with the largest at the bottom. Rain water is thus collected and added to the existing water table. 

Digging holes...by hand.

We have installed WHPs at our schools in India where there is little or no ready access to water. Collected water is pumped for different uses (toilets, kitchens), while RO systems make the water potable. We also use collected water to grow shrubs and trees that provide invaluable shade on our campuses during the hot months. A versatile and sustainable solution to an enormous problem!

Completed Water Harvesting Pits on our school campuses in India.

Curious to learn more about water scarcity in India? Here’s an interesting in-depth article from Unicef.