RAINWATER HARVESTING POTENTIALS

Access to potable water (quantity and quality) is inadequate worldwide. Rainwater harvest as source of water supply in a selected housing estate (1000-housing estate) in Maiduguri, Nigeria was evaluated. The estate was selected based on it location, types of flats and average number of person per flat was recorded. Water demand of 120 l per capita per day (based on WHO standard) was used to compute water demand per flat in the estate. Rainfall data in the estate were collected (1979-2013) from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET). The effective surface areas of various flats (1-bedroom 2-bedrooms, 3-bedrooms and 4-bedrooms) were calculated using standard method. Water yield per flats were calculated using rainfall intensity and effective surface area (Rational method). The water yields (Rain harvest) per flats were used in design, collection transportation and storage facilities for the flats. First and last rains were collected from various roofs types using standard procedures for laboratory analyzed to ascertain the water quality and selected water quality parameters (physical and chemical) were measured using standard procedures.