The Present Status of Rainwater Harvesting for Agricultural and Domestic Use in Uromi, Edo State
1Brai M.A, 2Ehiomogue P, &.3Eriakha E.C.
1Department of Sciences, National Institute of Construction Technology (NICT), Uromi Edo State
2Department of Agricultural Engineering, Michael Okpara University, Umudike
3Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi
E-mail: maxcellusng6@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The largest environmental challenge that Uromi is facing today is inadequacy of public water systems and the ineffective functioning of the water facilities. Lot of methods has been suggested to increase the sources of water supply; and one of this is Rainwater harvesting. Sometimes ground water may be available for domestic and agricultural use. Nevertheless, rainwater harvesting which falls on the ground and percolates into the soil which is not usually sufficient to meet the need of the rural and urban dwellers in the state. Although rooftop rainwater harvesting is a practice of most household in Uromi .The study is carried out to determine the current status of Rain water harvesting in Uromi, Edo State. Rainfall data for 5 years was used with supply side Approach (SSA) to calculate the potential Rainwater harvesting mean monthly rainfall ranged between 0 – 0.42.12mm.
The month of July had the highest potential yield (2,258.91 litres) with an actual yield of 642.20litres followed by the month of August which had a potential yield of 2,240.20 litres and with actual yield of (615.43litres).This indicates the status of rainwater in Uromi is still on the search for effective method. This can be addressed by using larger storage facilities and possibly the entire rooftop that will yield 100% water harvesting with a loss of less than 0.5%.
Keywords: Rainwater harvesting (RWH), Water scarcity, and supply side approach (SSA).
