I have a farm in Muthalamada (Palakkad district, near Pollachi). I’m looking for advice on bore well recharging, and companies that do these in the Palakkad/Pollachi areas.
Any advice would be much appreciated - I would like to connect/speak with community members who have done this before or who have detailed insights and understand the method, pros/cons and costs.
Thanks!
Dear sir,
Thanks for showing your interests in harvesting rainwater.
On this subject i wish some points which you to decide as below mentioned.
If everything in positive side without any restrictions, then contact a professional consultant who has executed by themselves in a turnkey basis by witnessing their previous done project then later take a call. Bcose now a days everyone do rainwater harvesting without witnessing the work done.
*which type ( roof / runoff) of rainwater you want to harvest (surface recharge or deep aquifer)
Hi,
Recently at Agri show in Bangalore, I met the below company
Dr.borewells +91 73786 93030, they mentioned around 30K per borewell.
Please note I have not used their service, just sharing the information if it helps you.
Regards,
Thanks. I have the contacts of several borewell companies in my area. What I’m specifically looking for is borewell recharging - which apparently is a system used for recharging the borewells using rain water
Keen to connect/speak with people who have done this, and understand the method, pros/cons and costs.
Yes that’s I’m trying to do and hence the post on this group - to connect/speak with people who have done this, and understand the method, pros/cons and costs.
You can share these details so as to suggest more.
Following is easy, simple, very low cost and common sense Borewell/Water harvesting method.
It is best to avoid making borewells. Always make a pond (without liner). The bigger the better. In area it should be 10% of your farm land. All 4 sides should have sloping sides over which people and animals can walk into the pond easily. Depth should be minimum 6 ft of water at the max level.
There are huge benefits of pond. Having a water body on the farm completely transforms the ecosystem of the farm.
It adds beauty.
You can use it as a swimming pool.
Animals can cool off in it.
You can grow fish in it.
Fish will automatically come in it during the rains.
Always have fish and ducks in your pond. They have a symbiotic relationship. They keep the pond healthy.
If you are making Borewell then Always make 2 borewells. One as an Inlet of Rainwater Harvesting and the other to withdraw water. Earth is like a BANK. You need to save in order to withdraw. OK it will give you loan… but if you will not return the water you have withdrawn it will make your farm barren. Your next generation will sell the land because it will slowly give less and less output.
You can use the water from the Roof Top or create a long tent roof with plastic and the rainwater from this plastic roof can be sent to Inlet No. 1. You will need to put a simple filter like the one used for a tea filtering in kitchen to filter the stones or twigs or leaves from going into the inlet and blocking it. Using this method you can save almost 100% of rainwater that falls on that roof.
The rainwater harvesting/Recharge pit done by most companies is bullshit. where they put stones then gravel then sand then stones etc. It will get choked within 10 minutes of rain. and 99% of rainwater will not go into the ground. Then next yr before the rains you will have to use labour to clean this pit. This periodic cleaning provides good income for the companies so they suggest this method.
Thanks for your post.
Hope this helps
Aravind
Area is ~15 Acres, with primarily coconut cultivation
We’ve dug long trenches in certain parts of the property.
[Padmanabhan Ganesan]
Simple things first, make sure the rainwater never leaves the farm. How to do that?
1. Create trenches against the slope of the farm, that way, the rainwater is collected in the trenches and they will seep into the soil.
2. Make sure the entire farm is mulched by live mulch wherever possible. This live mulch will have roots and there will be spaces between the roots which will enable the rainwater seep into the soil.
Any other excess rainwater can be stored in ponds or wells or borewells where possible.
Currently have 1 active borewell, plus 2-3 others which may have water in it/have gone dry. In addition, have 2 large ponds (dug into ground, with rock surface). These two ponds hold water during the rainy season, but start to dry up during the summers.
[Padmanabhan Ganesan] Use the inactive borewells as a storage facility during the rainy season. Redirect the rainwater into the borewells and ensure that no debris is allowed to enter into the borewell. For more information, search BHUNGROO METHOD.
We currently have coconut plantation (~400 trees), plus some mango and teak. We have the potential to grow much more as there is land available, and spacing between trees. However, haven’t done this as we need to address the water situation first
[Padmanabhan Ganesan] By the next rainy season, if you can create more trenches in your farm, you should be able to grow more crops in the coming years.
Thank you. This is much appreciated.
Thank you, Padmanabbhan. This is very helpful. A few questions (if I may).
Thank you
Aravind
You can use Horse Gram as it will grow to a very small height only. Even long term grass can be grown.
Grow Multi Crop seeds mentioned in my blog as this will grow to a height of 3-4 ft and this will kill the sunlight to the parthenium crops. Try this in a small area and expand later on.
You can implement simple construction which will remove the debris from the rainwater flow. Several models are available in the net.
Thanks, Padmanabhan - this is very helpful… Can you share the link to your blog?