Access to safe water is a fundamental human right and it is recognized as one of the UN-SDG Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SDG 6: “Water Sustain Life”. However, there are inequalities in access to safe water in the globe.   Human-induced water pollution, increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events drive communities towards water stress. 

Due to a wide range of factors related to the system reliability, roof-based rainwater harvesting is not much popular as a sustainable option among the water-stressed communities. Yet, properly designed and operated rooftop rainwater harvesting systems can be a sustainable solution for managing domestic water stress in communities suffering from long-term water stress. A study conducted by NBRO revealed the performance of existing Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) systems in many parts of Sri Lanka are not functioning satisfactory due to inappropriate designs and inaccurate installations.

Identifying the importance of establishing rainwater harvesting systems, their drawbacks and existing knowledge gaps, NBRO devised a project titled “Sustainable roof top-based rainwater harvesting systems to overcome domestic water deficit conditions in the Anuradhapura” in 2019, under the R & D programme. Under this project, “A Design Manual for Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Sri Lanka” was developed as a self-guided technical reference and a guide to design, construct and operate sustainable Rooftop RWH systems. It is a timely and much-needed technical tool for water sector professionals, Community Based Organizations, and stakeholders. The manual is available in English, Sinhala and Tamil languages.

Simultaneously, an easy-to-use freely accessible on-line rainwater harvesting potential calculator is developed with the collaboration of Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum. This online calculator is created under three different tiers including estimation of up-to-date bill of quantities. It is embedded with monthly rainfall values from 2000 to 2019, relevant field-verified average domestic water requirements, a complete user-guide and a simulation model of monthly water distribution based on water requirement, harvestable volume and storage capacity.

For the services related to RWH for households/industries; pls. contact,

Ruwan Ruhunuge (Scientist)
Email: இந்த மின்-அஞ்சல் முகவரி spambots இடமிருந்து பாதுகாக்கப்படுகிறது. இதைப் பார்ப்பதற்குத் தாங்கள் JavaScript-ஐ இயலுமைப்படுத்த வேண்டும்.
TP: 077 719 0811, 011 258 8946 (Ex: 621)
ESSD/NBRO

Madara Dissanayake (S.Scientist)
Email: இந்த மின்-அஞ்சல் முகவரி spambots இடமிருந்து பாதுகாக்கப்படுகிறது. இதைப் பார்ப்பதற்குத் தாங்கள் JavaScript-ஐ இயலுமைப்படுத்த வேண்டும்.
TP: 071 823 5494, 011 258 8946 (Ex: 518)
ESSD/NBRO

A Design Manual for Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting Systems Sri Lanka (English/සිංහල/தமிழ்)

Visit Rainwater Harvesting Calculator HERE