Rainwater Harvesting in Kasavanahalli Higher Primary School: A collaborative effort

The Rainwater Harvesting was implemented in Kasavanahalli Higher Primary School (HPS) by Biome Trust with financial help from Students of University of Washington and on-field support from the school itself, Ms. Hema from Bhoomi College and our Plumber Manjunath. Below are some details about the implementation and the activities done subsequently when Uni. of Washington students came down to India.

Kasavanahalli Higher Primary school (HPS) is located off central jail road, near the Kasavanhalli village. The total student strength is ~200 and 4 teachers are appointed for the school. The school shares one of the classroom blocks with the Samriddhi Trust. Samriddhi Trust runs a bridge school for children of migrant labours in the vicinity.

In addition, the school also faces major water scarcity. The school has one 10KL sump and plumbing connections given to the overhead tanks (OHTs) for toilets and handwash. However, the main issue is availability of water. This area doesn’t have access to Cauvery water/piped water supply. The school doesn’t have borewell and hence, have to depend on the tanker water for water needs. This incurs expenses which the school finds difficult to manage. Moreover, the toilets are not being used due to lack of water.

Rainwater Harvesting as an intervention emerged through discussed with everyone. The school would be able to harvest ~10KL in one average rain which would suffice them for 3-4 days at least. The University of Washington students in the Leadership Program came down to India and the school to engage with the school. Below are some pictures capturing the components of the system and the student activities.