Beating drinking water crisis

"Water, water, everywhere, 
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink"

The stanza is from S.T.Coleridge’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner which indicates the voyager’s narration of a situation when they were stuck amid the sea due to curse caused by shooting an albatross .

In a nutshell, we can’t drink sea water straightly but after treating well, we can.   

To relate, we get stuck with empty water vessels and dried up wells during dry season as drinking water crisis matters us the most since condition of drinking water supply throughout the country is bad, being worse in the Kathmandu Valley.

           We, Kathmanduites, get water supply alternatively or once in a blue moon. Many a time, we have to keep vainglorious night vigils for the glimpse of water drops even in normal season. On top of that the recent massive earthquake has fanned the fire by drying up water sources.   

            Though the authority concerned is always reported to have been exercising to provide more water supplies, it won't meet even a half of consumers' need. Therefore, time has come that we opted for alternatives ourselves.

            You might probably suggest seeking relief in underground water. But  for how long, ten years, twenty years? Are we the last of our species? Certainly not. Our offspring will have to follow suit as we did to our ancestors.

   It’s a well known fact that the ponds that fed stone spouts have become legends because of mushrooming buildings, more and more wells getting dug up aiding to drain up naturally reserved underground water faster.Streams and rivulets, the perennial sources of water flowing from the outskirts to the valley are getting muddy and unusable due to umpteenth of illegally-licensed stone mines. All of these factors are adding fuel to the flame.

            Time has ripe for us to choose an Eco-friendly alternative to beat this crisis. For this, the process of harvesting rainwater can undoubtedly prove to be one for us to take refuge in. The process of which is not onerous. It doesn't need hi-tech engineering and it not that dear either. In rainy season, we witness plenty of rainfall, water and water and water everywhere, which eventually goes to rivers and canals and help the unnecessary flood to enhance; even causing fields and household to be swept away. If we managed the free rainwater well, it can become a great boon to keep our water problem at bay.

            To start with, all we have to do is to build a couple of tanks--one for filtration and another for storage. When it rains, we have to supply the rainwater to the first tank directly from the roof, no matter it is flat or corrugated through a pipeline. The tank contains layers of sand, aggregates and pebbles for filtering process. It gets filtered there and can be reserved it in the second one to consume as per our need.

            A well can be dug by the tank to store extra amount of water which can be used for washing and gardening purpose. Time has come to invest a meager amount of money once to own our own still Melamchi in our compound and bid adieu to all those past headaches regarding drinking water.

            A recent study shows if every household  started harvesting rainwater, the nature's gift, almost eighty percent of Kathmandu's water problem can be kept at bay forever. By this the burden of the authority concerned will be automatically toned down a great deal inspiring it to act wholeheartedly. On top of that there will be no risk of water-borne epidemics and any negative impact in the ecosystem. Let’s give this boon a try to prove that a stitch in time really saves nine.