The Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)

was founded in 1992 and today comprises

over 6,500 professionals in over 140

countries striving to get safe, accessible,

affordable water to everyone living in rural

areas around the world. www.rural-water-

supply.net

RAIN Foundation, based in the

Netherlands, has a mission to promote

rainwater harvesting as a means to

improve safe water supplies and food

security. Find out more at:

www.rainfoundation.org

Rainwater harvesting has incredible potential for

, it can also tackle wider problems around soil

erosion, biodiversity loss and groundwater over-exploitation.

Rainwater harvesting can make an important contribution to achieving Sustainable

Development Goals, in particular the expected

.

. We

need to advocate its benefits to others who can benefit from it – climate change

adaptation, flood risk reduction, agriculture, soil and biodiversity conservation,

healthcare, education, and empowerment of women.

Rainwater harvesting is an excellent Self-supply option that promotes greater self-

sufficiency and can create

and small to medium sized businesses.

Initial up-front costs are relatively high – particular on a per capita basis compared to

other water supply options. This could be overcome through

and through better evidence of non-monetary benefits

– such as ease of access, higher self-esteem through self-sufficiency and community

cohesion.

Rainwater is not often mentioned in national and international water discussions and

agreements - many small rainwater inventions could deliver more benefit than a few

big schemes, but

Rainwater harvesting is being practiced in many countries around the world but

This lack of evidence makes it

hard for governments and development funders to advocate internally and externally

for stronger budgets and policies for promoting rainwater harvesting.

for project

information to be collected, analysed and presented.

from political leaders to masons and

households. This can be addressed by training and communication that is specifically

targeted to the needs and contexts of these stakeholders. Creating national

knowledge and skills hubs can play an important role.

The webinars on rainwater harvesting topics have been successful at showcasing

interesting and important projects and issues. They have also been helping to

in the network that now actively provide help and advice.

Briefing Note on the RAIN-RWSN webinar series 2014

We support the development of a more

unified global network of national and

regional organisations, networks and

professionals, working in or interested in

rainwater harvesting.

By bringing together these actors and

sharing knowledge in multiple ways and by

creating more awareness and

understanding more widely, we aim to see

more people benefit from better food and

water security as a result of using

rainwater.

www.rain4food.net

photo: L’association VDS

Honduras

Rainwater Ponds for farm diver-

sification (photo: iDE),

Webinar: 23 September

Burkina Faso

Low-cost rainwater tanks for

drip irrigation (photo: iDE)

Webinar: 23 September

During 2014, 825 people (from 90 countries)

registered for at least one rainwater webinar and

there were 419 attendances from the 59

countries marked with:

Brazil

9th Brazil Rainwater Harvesting

Symposium

International, 2014 (Photo: Han

Heijnen)

Webinar: 7 Oct

Burkina Faso & Mali

Sand dams, PVC lined pits and

ferro-cement tanks (photo:

VDS)

Webinar: 4 November

Netherlands & Global

RSR online reporting system

(photo: Akvo)

Webinar: 3 July

Uganda

Soil bunds and 3R structures,

government support (photo:

JESE). Webinars: 4 November &

30 October

Somalia

Drought resilience & irrigation

improvement (photo: RAAS)

Webinar: 4 November

Madagascar

Rain collection pads &

underground tanks (photo:

Practica)

Webinar: 4 November

Global

Basics of Roofwater harvesting

(photo: Helvetas)

Webinar: 3 December

Nepal

Government support to

rainwater harvesting (photo:

Gov. of Nepal)

Webinar: 30 October

Uganda

bob rainwater bag

(photo: Relief International)

Webinar: 8 May

Presenters and Discussants: Ahmed Abdi, Han Heijnen, Dr Terry Thomas, Nasser Kinaalwa, Rosine Tchemeu, Adbouramane Diallo, Stephan Abric, Lau-

rent Stravato, Dr. Callist Tindimugaya, Mahesh Neupane, Jane Nichols, Carlos Urmeneta, Jon Naugle, Tony Uhl, Tom Opio-Oming, Viola Bwanika-

Semyalo, Charlotte Soedjak, Mawira, Chitma, Alex Odour, Viswanath and their respective organisations.

Organisers and facilitators: Robert Meerman (RAIN Foundation), Hans Merton (Akvo); Dr Kerstin Danert, Sean Furey, Anne Sophie Aublet, Martin Laeng

(Skat Foundation). This initiative was funded by IFAD through the Rain4Food programme with co-funding through Skat Foundation.

Imprint: S. G. Furey, Skat Foundation, St Gallen, Switzerland, December 2014

During 2014, RWSN and RAIN hosted a series

of webinars, initially as standalone events and

then as part of a wider webinar series that also

covered water point mapping and

groundwater research in Africa. All the

recordings can be found on the RWSN video

collection:

vimeo.com/album/3171105

8 May “The story of introducing the Bob

rainwater harvesting system in Uganda: a

private sector approach”

3 Jul “An introduction to using Really Simple

Reporting (RSR) for Rainwater Projects”

23 Sept “Rainwater Harvesting and Food

Security - IDE cases from Burkina Faso and

Honduras”

7 Oct “Building momentum for rainwater

harvesting “

30 Oct “Mainstreaming Rainwater Harvesting

policy and practice - Government

Perspectives from Uganda and Nepal”

4 Nov “Rainwater Harvesting – experiences

from around the world”

3 Dec “Roofwater Harvesting - the basics”

Rainwater from homes and community buildings

The most commonly understood form of rainwater harvesting is collecting rainwater that falls on the

roofs of buildings. By taking the water as close to its source (the sky) as possible, the quality and

safety of the water can generally be assured (although heavy industry can impact rainwater quality

and some roof materials, such as straw or reeds, are problematic).

A roofwater system is relatively simple – it needs guttering to intercept the water that falls on a roof,

a tank to store the water and first flush system to intercept the dirt washed off the roof at the

beginning of a rainfall event. However, ‘simple’ does not mean ‘easy’, because the sizing of the

guttering, pipes, first-flush system and tanks needs to be carefully thought through because it affects

the costs and reliability of the supply.

The ways for rolling out roof water harvesting vary appears to be mostly through NGO interventions

because the relatively high per capita investment costs often mean that it is overlooked in larger

government and donor programmes. Many households invest in their own systems and this self-

supply could be supported by supporting the private sector to deliver affordable, high quality

products and services. Scaling-up may need more skills and access to marketing and micro-finance.

However, it is difficult to sell a product where men make financial decisions but it is women and

children that benefit most – because time spent collecting water is often not valued.

Collecting rainwater in the landscape

Rainwater harvesting is more than just roofs and tanks; managing the landscape can have an

important buffering affect, which is important in tropical climates where there is often major seasonal,

and inter-annual differences in rainfall. The 3R principles of Recharge, Retention and Re-use enhance

natural process to capture and store rainwater for use when it is needed, generally for agriculture but

also groundwater for drinking.

Check dams, swales and bunds can slow down surface runoff so that it can seep into the soil and

recharge the underlying aquifers. This in turn can increase the reliability of springs, well and

boreholes down slope. In other contexts, it is better to build a tank or pond to store the water, for

irrigation or livestock use. Here, cost becomes a major issue, so many of the webinar case studies

focus on affordable solutions for small farmers, such as PVC-lined tanks, pits, ponds or sand dams.

Providing technical and financial support to farmers to do this can come from government, private

sector or NGOs and there is wealth of experience from many countries. The challenge is to develop

robust evidence that these measures are effective and worth the investment of time, money and hard

labour1.

This partnership will continue to find new exciting case studies from around the world to show case

what can and is being done. Through these sharing opportunities we hope to spark new ideas and

collaborations between individuals and organisations. In 2015, we will look at doing webinars in

English and Spanish to open up to new audiences and experiences from around the world. If you

have an idea for a webinar, or for a collaborative project based on the issues raised in this series,

then we would love to hear from you. Contact Robert Meerman (meerman@rainfoundation.org),

Hans Merton (hans@akvo.org) or Sean Furey (sean.furey@skat.ch)

(1 For more information visit: www.bebuffered.com/downloads/profit-from-storage-reprint-2013_digitalvs.pdf)

Rainwater Harvesting: the collection and storage

of rainwater for various uses, it can be at the

scale of a building or a valley.

Roofwater Harvesting: collecting and storing

rainwater from buildings.

3R: Recharge, Retention and Reuse. Visit:

www.bebuffered.com

Webinar: an online audio-visual presentation

where anyone can log in from anywhere in the

world, listen and ask questions.