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More about rainwater harvesting in Kerala

This week we decided to do rainwater harvesting. So far we have only heard about Mazhapolima in Thrissur. I contacted one of their numbers over whatsapp. I wanted to know if they know someone in Kannur who would do rainwater harvesting. However their response was a bit delayed. In the meanwhile, I found about an NGO who does rainwater harvesting in Kannur. They are called " Susthira ". I initially read about them in an archived news paper report which talked about their work in the Cheruthazham panchayat. We contacted them immediately and they registered ourselves there. We were told that the cost is Rs. 12000 and a person will visit us next week to assess the work involved. Hopefully, they will do it before the rains start in June. Just after this was arranged, Mazhapolima guys send me a voice message that they do it almost everywhere in Kerala and they could send their people to Kannur to get it done. However, we had already registered with Susthira guys.  So, th...
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Water retention property of coconut husk

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Have you noticed the water absorption capability of coconut husk and its derived products such as coir dust, coco pith etc? Here is a cheap way to use this for your benefit. Let me describe what is generally suggested and I will come to the details later. It is suggested that you make circular pits around your coconut trees and bury coconut husk there. This husk will retain the water for a long time and it will help your trees yield more nuts. Most of the sites that I found of the net agreed on the size of the trenches that you should make. You have to make about 0.5m deep and 0.5m  wide trench in a circular fashion around each tree. The radius is expected to be 2m. In this trenches, fill the coconut husk and cover them using soil. Now, I have to admit that I have never done this myself. The information about this on internet is a bit hazy. Let me list the conflicting points that I have noticed below. Most of the images that I have found on the net (including the...
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Rainwater harvesting

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I am starting this new blog with a page on rainwater harvesting. Let me start by posting a nice video I have seen recently about rainwater harvesting. Let me also give some simple facts below Water needed by an average person per day - 20-50 liters (as per UN)  Water consumed by an average Indian per day - 140 liters Total amount of water consumed per year - 140*365 = 51,100 liters Total amount of water per year of a family of 4 = 204,400 liters Average rainfall in Kerala - 3000 mm = 3 m (For a full list of all places, see here ) Water falling on a 1000 sq. ft. terrace = 92 * 3 = 276,000 liters (1000 sq. ft is ~92 sq. m) So, in Kerala, a family with four members staying in a house with 1000 sq. ft terrace can simply sustain by using only rain water collected from their terrace and they will have surplus too!
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