The Global Rain Water Harvesting Collective

The Global Rain Harvesting Collective (GRWHC) has been established is to provide drinking water to schools facing an acute shortage all over the world, through roof top rain water harvesting in schools.

Rural communities all over the world have been collecting rainwater where it falls from time immemorial. In their fields, in open tanks and in traditional open wells. It was a technology that was accepted and applied on a large scale in the deserts, tribal regions and in the mountains.

This age old method is suggested as an alternative to the wasteful and costly use of hand pumps and piped water supply systems. Rural communities have the technical competence to collect rainwater where it falls. It also wants to provide this facility to community service centers.

The aim is to deliver tangible and sustainable results through a large number of small projects in many different countries at minimal operational and management cost. The `Demonstration Effect¿ of these projects may induce other stakeholders to replicate the process.

Collecting rain water in public places also has considerable social benefits. It provides water to poor children who otherwise have to walk for miles to fetch water.

Collected water is managed by local community hence they are less dependent on outside source.

Schools become more attractive because of the availability of drinking water. Mothers are prepared to send their children to school for sweet drinking water in non potable areas where water is brackish

It makes it more attractive for women to attend meetings at village centers such as about child care, health, education, literacy, and income generation activities.

Linking clean rooftop water to sanitation has reduced the incidence of water borne diseases. With the water comes sanitation(hand flushed latrines).

Education, poverty alleviation, gender equity objectives, implementation of environmental plans and community development programs can be achieved through rain water harvesting.

Likewise, low technology approaches such as water recharge through slowing down of run-off and also diverting surface run-off water into unused and abandoned open wells in villages, and installing large rainwater storage tanks carved into hillside, in fact a variation on terracing, provides similar benefits.

The Global Rainwater Harvesting Collective Programme[GRWHC] has two objectives

a)To collect rainwater from roof tops in community places like schools, dispensaries, family planning clinics, training centers, and women¿s hostels in desert and mountain rural and semi-urban areas:

b) To collect as much surface water in unused open wells in villages as possible so that the dry hand pumps in the thousands could be revitalized and these assets can be productive again.

The Basic Aim is to campaign for roof top rain water harvesting in schools as a Global Movement.