Harvesting rain water for lifeline consumption
Another rainy season has set in again, it is a seasonal ritual which lasts for more than six months every year and it is time to ponder over a more constructive use of rain water to the advantage of humanity.
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Indeed, the time has come for a rethink in reducing the waste and losses associated with the divine gift of rain water.
This is because water is becoming a commodity that is increasingly endangered for human and livestock consumption and agriculture. Several water bodies in the country today have become endangered due to “galamsey” or illegal mining activities.
The environment for the sustainability of streams and rivers are being continually depleted, leading to the drying up or threatening to dry up rivers which the people had lived on over the years.
Cultivating water on subsistence basis
Formerly, rain water was cultivated on subsistence basis for livelihood and the time has come for a concerted effort for a more sustainable approach to harnessing this abundant and available natural means for continuous survival.
Rain water has been neglected for far too long, albeit it is God-given and free of charge. It is rather poorly managed and left to go waste to the detriment of the country.
In the olden days, children and women heaved a sigh of relief any time there was a rainfall because it saved them the labour of going round to fetch water from the streams and rivers for domestic consumption.
This was because tanks and barrels were erected under roofs to harvest rain water for subsistence consumption.
Subsistence, because the harvested water did not suffice families for long.
Now, it is time to invest in an expanded and holistic manner in harvesting rain water either through underground reservoirs or surface reservoirs.
Policies for MMDAs
There is the need for a policy by metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to ensure that all public buildings are designed with concrete
underground tanks for harvesting rain water; all public buildings already
constructed should be fixed with gutters to harvest rain water into surface tanks, and existing buildings with rain gutters should be provided with surface tanks, as a matter of urgency, to harvest rain water.
All communities should be encouraged to install larger surface water tanks under their roofs to ensure that maximum water is harvested for domestic consumption over a long period of time.
Failure to harvest rain water
It should be noted that the failure to harvest rain water has caused extensive erosion in communities, leading to gullies and more so, threatening the foundation of buildings.
Harvesting rain water into underground or surface reservoirs for a longer period will certainly attract people to their home towns, including those who visited home and left abruptly because their stay was calculated on the availability of water for them and their families.
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) should revise its plans of action to include a comprehensive harvesting of water for every household in all communities nationwide by supplying water tanks at subsidized prices to ensure utilisation of rain water to the benefit of the populace.
It must be a special project to be undertaken with national and international support to save resources from going waste.
By this, the risks of depending on polluted water either through “galamsey” or chemicals will be reduced.