Water scarcity in Jordan demands the use of every raindrop in Jordan. The annual amount of rainfall is about 8500 million cubic meter of which only 5% is beneficially used as surface water and the rest is lost to evaporation and uncontrolled flood. Therefore minimizing runoff losses is of the highest priority to the government of Jordan.

Collecting the rain that falls on a building to be used nearby is a simple concept. Since the rain you harvest is independent of any centralized system, you are promoting self-sufficiency and helping to foster an appreciation for this essential and precious resource. Collecting rainwater is not only water conserving, it is also energy conserving since the energy input required to operate a centralized water system designed to treat and pump water over a vast service area is bypassed.

Water harvesting from rural and urban areas can increase the water supply for domestic and agricultural use. The use of microcatchments and sand ditches to increase soil water has been tested under Jordanian conditions (Abu.Zreig et al., 1999 a,b). However, rainfall harvesting from rural catchments has not received large attention in Jordan. In the absence of runoff sewer lines in Jordanian rural areas, rainfall harvesting from roads, parking lots and rooftops can increase water supply for various domestic uses and help combating the chronic water shortages in the country. It is the objective of this research proposal to investigate various methods of rainfall harvesting in rural areas and estimate the quantity and quality of runoff collected from different areas. Since Jordan does not presently inspect or enforce any guidelines regarding captured rainfall, in this project we will develop guidelines to rainwater harvesting.

The broad objective of this project is to assess rainfall harvesting in rural areas for various domestic uses such as irrigation of public parks, washing of streets, and building construction and to formulate some guidelines for water collection and storage. The specific objectives are:

To estimate the quantity of runoff that can be collected from various facilities such as roads, parking lots, public parks and roof tops.

To evaluate the quality of water collected from various surfaces

To investigate methods of collection and storage with minimal costs

To setup guidelines for water usage according to its quality and quantity

To investigate methods of onsite treatments of collected runoff such as sand filtration and sedimentation

 

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