Water Scarcity in Chennai: A Financial-Economic Appraisal of Rain Water Harvesting

Abstract

The present day shortage of water, quite often termed, as water crisis is a human made disaster. Two major shifts in water management account for this disaster, the state emerging as the provider of water supply and the decline in the practice of technology of using rainwater. In a city like Chennai, in the present scenario, the most feasible and comprehensive solution to tackle the problem of water shortage is to adopt rainwater-harvesting techniques with their costs. Considering the acute problem of water scarcity that many are likely to face in the near future, it would seem prudent not to ignore the direct management of nature's simplest and most fundamental source of fresh water, rain. The paper mainly deals with the water demand and supply pattern of Chennai city and explains how implementing Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) can fill up the yawing gap between the demand and the supply pattern. The paper also examines the different types of RWH structures that can be adopted in residential apartments. The paper mainly discusses the economical parameters in the implementation of RWH as well as intervention of government in rainwater Harvesting (RWH). Finally the paper suggests measures to ease the water scarcity in Chennai. Using the cost-benefit analysis (net present value of benefit) incorporating risk and uncertainty, the study shows that the economically RWH System is viable and worthwhile, compare with financial analysis.