Manthan, Kotri

Water

In eastern Rajasthan, the problem of water affects the lives of everyday people.  People rely of fresh water for their families, livestock and fields.  It is essential that clean water is plentiful and accessible.

Rajasthan is one of India’s driest regions, and people rely heavily on groundwater and rainfall to meet their water usage needs.  After years of scarce rainfall, villagers need to put every drop of water to good use.

Manthan is working on a number of initiatives to recharge groundwater, effectively harvest rainwater, and to purify waste water through reverse osmosis (RSO) plants.  These initiatives will responsibly and effectively harvest water for all to enjoy.

Rain Water Harvesting

Rainwater Harvesting:
Manthan is working towards developing new tanks, dams and ponds throughout the region.  This ancient technology has allowed people in this region to effectively capture the monsoon rains for centuries.
In addition to this, access to groundwater will be increased by over 800 open wells and hand pumps, and over 1200 tube wells.

Some Rainwater Harvesting Structures:

Bandha:

A Bhanda is a dam-like stucture to collect run off of overflowing rivers or streams.  The dams breaks the flow of water so that it can seep into the ground and join streams of groundwater.

Nadi:

A Nadi is a large pond, either natural or man-made.  These ponds both feed the underground surge of water and allow people and animals to collect the water just under the surface.

Kund:

A Kund is a tank-like structure with a round top both both catch water and to keep it cool.

Tank:

Tanks can be built for individual buildings or in community centers.  The concept is simple, the tank is dug deep into the ground and lined with stone to keep the water cool and clean.

 

Khandin:

Khandin is a structure built at the far side of a small lake.  The structure is meant to break the flow of rain in order to channel it more efficiently into the lake.  Khandins are built in natural depressions.

Source: RWH.org

 

Reverse Osmosis Plants (R.S.O plants)

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Manthan also reuses waste water and transforms salient water to sweet water by its Reverse Osmosis Plants.  Manthan currently has built and maintains two R.S.O plants in Kotri and Sinodya villages.
The water in and around Kotri has a high concentration of salt and flouride due to its close proximity to the Sambhar Salt Lake.
In September 2006, Barefoot College set up India’s first ever solar powered Reverse Osmosis plant for desalination at a small voluntary organisation called Manthan established in Kotri. Kotri, a small village with 300 families, is located in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan. The RO plant is also the first in India to be installed in a village. Apart from this potable water project, Manthan has been working on rain water harvesting, channelling water from the school rooftops into underground tanks. 

The Barefoot College interacted with the scientists from the Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) for over 6 months to design a tailor-made and relatively small desalination plant that could be managed, repaired and operated by members of the rural community. CSMCRI installed the plant and trained two Barefoot solar engineers to operate and maintain it.

The RO plant is powered by a 2.5KW power plant which helps it to produce 600 litres of water per hour, for 6 hours every day. Even though Kotri is ‘electrified by grid’ it barely receives supply for three hours in the whole day and that too is erratic. For this reason the plant has been solar electrified to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity for 6 hours, with some power to spare for a computer, a solar workshop, fans and light.
The RO plant reduces the locally available brackish water with a salinity of Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) 4000-6000ppm to 450ppm only, making the water not just sweet but also safe to drink! The plant meets the drinking water needs of more than 1,000 men, women and children from Kotri and its surrounding villages. Each family can take 40 litres of water every day for token amount of Rs.10 per month.
The brackish water, coming to the village through the government pipelines, is pumped through the RO plant and is stored in a 5,000 litre tank. The plant consists of components that are simple and easily available, a booster pump that costs INR 4,000, a sand filter, a cartridge and a carbon filter that prevents waste and impurities in the water from mixing with the desalinated water. It costs INR.15.5 lakhs to install a mini-RO plant specially designed for operating in a village to bring drinking water to its rural community.
For more information on rain water harvesting techniques initiated by Barefoot College check out this link: