Our Indigenous Systems and Techniques to Enhance Water Availability

Direct Bore-well Recharging is the fundamental concept and core technology of the Water Literacy Foundation. Collected water is filtered in successive stages of Top-to-Bottom and Bottom-to-Top Filtration and then flows into specialized Bore-wells, called Recharge Shafts, that are drilled with the primary intention of injecting water into it. Dried-up bore-wells can be refitted for this purpose too. The Recharge Shaft then replenishes depleted or exploited sub-surface and ground water reserves by releasing the filtered water at several depths into the ground. The ground water table was a stable water supply for thousands of years until humans started extracting water and decreased the water table significantly. Direct Bore-well Recharge is an efficient and quick method to fill up the aquifers and raise the ground water table to ensure water for ourselves and coming generations.

Greywater is an important possible source of water for water harvesting. Thereby it is important to differentiate between greywater and sewage. The water after washing, showering or kitchen water is not sewage but greywater, it only contains small amounts of soaps, fats and organic parts. Greywater is around 90% of the water we flush away as sewage. If it is separated from the sewage and filtered, it can be cleared from oil, grease and most of the soap residue. It is then injected into an soak pit or an infiltration well, from where it percolates into the ground. Even with some soap left, the water is filtered by the soil and cleared until it reaches the sub-surface and groundwater tables.