When the number of people living in an area increases as is the case in sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and parts of Asia, the planet suffers due to increased farming, deforestation, and livelihood-related activities. The earth loses biodiversity as people emit higher amounts of waste, and the demand for freshwater required to sustain life increases, despite reservoir sources remaining low in many countries. Globally, governments are responsible for the implementation of policies, strategies, and overall activities that can maintain the quality of the available water sources, which deplete quicker during population growth spurts. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) assist them in determining baseline performance in their provision of basic amenities, including water resources. SDG 6 recommendations have been used by nations to gauge the management of the resource (Hasan, 2018). During the early 1990s, approximately 0.26% of all water was available for domestic use, based on the hydrologic cycle and analysis of the world’s water sources (Shiklomanov, 1991). 0.26% translates to approximately 2,000 cubic kilometers of water in rivers (Swain, 2004). Bearing in mind that the global population has increased to 7 billion since that time, and each of us requires to consume sufficient water each day to remain healthy, these quantities are scarce (Valtin, 2002). A human being will die within a week if they do not consume water but survive for over a month without food (Villers, 2001).
By 2025, water shortages will grapple most of the earth’s population due to misuse and reduced access to the precious resource (Hasan, 2018). Methods of managing the quality and availability of fresh water are critical, and today and there are numerous sponsored, implemented projects attempting to address this concern. In areas with unreliable rainfall, poor sanitation and hygiene remain threats to health. Rainwater harvesting projects sponsored by not-for-profit organizations provide clean water for school children and caregivers to drink and clean themselves. Organizations reduce wastage by managing water consumption through such methods.
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Tearfund has successfully utilized plastic sheeting to harvest water without rooftops in South Sudan (Burt, 2019). Through connecting poles to a plastic sheet spread along four corners, participants in the harvesting method collected water to locally available and recycled containers in the predominantly warm area. Rainwater harvesting drastically reduces the amount of time that members of the community utilize finding water sources and fetching it for domestic purposes. The average collection through a plastic sheet after thirty minutes of rainfall was 70 liters (Burt, 2019). Seventy liters is a significant amount that provides drinking water for a large family, consuming at least thirty liters a day. Despite gusts of wind that can destroy harvesting set-ups, the affordable, lightweight sheets are accessible in most convenience stores and hardware vendor stores. Minimal training is required for the assembling and treatment of water, simplifying information-sharing in needy communities ravaged by war and requiring quick solutions to their daily challenge.
Typical collection systems require costly guttering systems that require assembling in makeshift homes and camps in addition to plumbing services, which can be expensive to procure. The pipes can be protected using screw caps and prevent rodents and insects from contaminating post-first-flush water, which has little or no sediment directed to storage tanks (Burt, 2019). This innovative idea stands out due to its affordability and simplicity, in addition to its success in addressing water shortages in hard-to-reach areas with vulnerable populations. In an era where life-threatening infections spread through contaminated water, this concept provides preventive approaches in conserving and utilizing fresh water available in the atmosphere for domestic purposes.
References
Burt, M. (2019). New Ideas for Rainwater Harvesting at Home. Article retrieved from Tearfund Learn (online ) https://learn.tearfund.org/en/resources/publications/footsteps/footsteps_81-90/footsteps_82/new_ideas_for_rainwater_harvesting_at_home/ on November 28, 2019
Gleick, P. H. (2000). The world's water 2000-2001: the biennial report on freshwater resources . Island Press.
Hasan, H. A. Accountability for Water and Way Forward. Drinking Water for Society , Penerbit Universiti Malaysia Perlis (p. 125).
Shiklomanov, I. A. (1991). The world’s water resources. In International symposium to commemorate the (Vol. 25, pp. 93-105).
Valtin, H., & (With the Technical Assistance of Sheila A. Gorman). (2002). “Drink at least eight glasses of water a day.” Really? Is there scientific evidence for “8× 8”?. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology , 283 (5), R993-R1004.
