My name is Kumar I live and work in US with my family, originally from South India area, I am in the process of of starting a small organiz...

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My name is Kumar I live and work in US with my family, originally from South India area, I am in the process of of starting a small organization to address water conservation, domestic water harvesting, industrial and farm water harvesting. recycling , Also plant tress small scale and large scale in public schools , parks, public offices and public places. , 1.Our first project to plant tress and water harvesting in public schools and building awareness to young children about the importance of water and trees. 2. We are going to market roof top domestic water harvesting , need to know about good water filter to clean the water before storing and before using. Also need a simple and economical water testing kit simple enough to be used and affordable by novice common man.  3. small watershed projects for farmers as water scarcity is so high and runoff water so much as the area is plateau, Rain Water has to be saved in an economical method we need tools, ideas, in this area.  4.Need partnership from water conservation harvesting agencies, companies involved in water filters, Students, researchers, environmentalists needed to conduct test on municipal delivered water quality, well water quality and to write content to create awareness. I need   advise, consult , guide  and on these areas If you're interested, Please drop me an email kumar.victor@gmail.com or whatsapp my cell number 15086410447. Thank you.

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4 Comments

  1. Hi, Kumar
    There are literatures on small scale technologies such as Multiple Use water systems, rain water harvesting, drip and sprinkler irrigation systems. I was involved in some of these studies from policy and governance perspective in Nepal. I suggest to visit IDE for small scale technology, IWMI for research on water and also Dutch organisation working on rain water to their respective sites. If I can help you any way pls. let me know in drpant.pant@gmail.com

    1 Comment reply

  2. Hello Kumar,
    A great initiative and I wish you all the best.

    I will add that looking at the soil would be a step that many overlook and could be very beneficial.

    Soil it the best water capture and filtration method that is zero maintenance, does not need water transportation (e.g. drip irrigation), avoids contamination/algae issues, and provides security against climate change issues (e.g. erosion, floods, strong winds).

    Tillage may be needed to start, but even this will no longer be needed once the soil biology has been established. This means minimum input of fossil fuels/manual labour.

    If this is all new.. start with:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK8z0qDtE2g

    The more biology you have in the soil, the deeper the root systems of the plants/trees can penetrate, and the more water capture you will be able to have. This means that you could become drought resistant.

    Next, one could use Permaculture practices to establish the working environment above ground. Include here what form of income the locals can develop at their location... what type of value added food can be grown etc. (i.e. dried fruit may fetch a better price than fresh).

    Anther very important approach that could be reviewed is that of Integrated Farming. One of the best examples I have come across that also uses Blue Economy concepts:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Caw2htKiT0I

    I hope this is of use.
    We can keep in touch; rsciffo@gmail.com

    Best regards,

    Roberto

  3. For farming in semi-arid areas, areas where rainfall is intermittent & not predictable consider larger-scale cisterns made from road-building ballast rock 40% voids for capacity of the cistern.

    Waterproofing using clays with sand aggregate to gravels and capped with clays & all if if done properly can be under crops using a mix of Inca terracing for runoff control & pre-Inca irrigation methods.

    Thus my offering, concepts, strategies based on common construction materials & methods that fundamentally sustain a modern lifestyle w/o heating the planet so follow heat-transfer the rule.

    For this idea with a combined terracing of the dirt from the cistern above it as catchment with drip-irrigation this stores an acre-foot of water on a 1/2-acre of land.

    Consider that, have many details to share.

    2 Comment replies

    1. Roberto, thanks for the interest, this is a visio of a 1-acre farm to scale has a garage the rest proposed farmhouse with the terrace plan, the cisterns below them & cross-section.

      Terraces are 1m wide with 1/2m steps,  facing tiles from hemp-mortar castings they transpire yet prevent fungal growth against them.

      The terraces cover 1/2 acre, the cisterns shown in outline in the second url.

      I tried to hype it up a bit for investors re-reading it, yet to build one.

      cheers,
      tom

      http://www.mallard-design.com/mdc2010/media/site-plot-v1-color.jpg

      http://www.mallard-design.com/mdc2010/media/floorplan-5-24-siteplan.jpg

      Adding in two more, one the origin of the wind-fence in Phoenix, the yard got 15-20 knot winds summer afternoon porch was 47C for weeks, they plant bermuda grass there, I dug down 50-75cm to pull out roots and found artifacts, the 1920 farmhouse built upon Hohokam canal supplied farmland the main canal 3-blocks away.

      They abandoned their canals in a 32-year drought 1400's-ish, a dispersal is how people survive in bad times not a Pueblo dependent on a river with a very large population for the times. I pounded in trellis slats cut in half to save sunflower sprouts in a thunderstorm with hail & winds.
      http://www.mallard-design.com/mdc2010/media/wind-fence-phoenix.jpg

      That is how the Rapa Nui survived by rural dispersal, they stayed sustainable on a tiny island for a 1/2-century before contact by living dispersed upon the countryside not larger villages, no perennial streams, dry trades not a lot of rain and rats ate the palm seeds a KISS cause they at contact had surviving palms in an irrigated area with several dozen growing.

      What did it was a world-class inventive Culture, so they created rock mulching to not let soil moisture evaporate in the tradewinds by busting rocks, it worked and took significant constant labor to create the areal extent of the work in that amount of time, constant labor.

      Their populations didn't exceed 5,000 and they created more megalithic statues and moved them farther than anyone assumed possible using three ropes to "walk" them to their location.

      We're clueless :) ... they did waterworks and parallel with the Andean concept used porosity and slowing flow, not damming it putting it into groundwater a strategy, groundwater systems don't evaporate and provide slow variation, they operate over time delaying a change, absorbing runoff, the Inca saved a sliding hill @45-degrees by terracing from the river up, not top down, they built irrigation canals on valley walls with porous rocks, being revived today seeing they water the valley most efficiently.


      http://www.mallard-design.com/mdc2010/media/farm-windfence.jpg

      I moved to Reno, NV, a higher altitude desert base 1200m/4000ft, arid dry side of the Sierra Nevada Range did a test plot with my trellis-slat wind-sun fence facing due south and volunteers began growing before 4-weeks by 6 it showed great results late fall zero rain.