CARPHA urges rainwater harvesting in case of disaster

By Caribbean Medical News Staff
Often underutilized, rainwater is a valuable resource that can be harvested and stored for daily use. Its harvest and use can not only ease challenges related to domestic water usage, but there is also great potential for application of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in industry, tourism, and agriculture.
Rainwater can be applied industrially to non-potable activities such as shop floor maintenance, sanitation and cooling processes. In hotels and similar commercial operations, it can be used for landscaping and washing vehicles. There is also great potential for RWH application in agriculture – such as animal husbandry and irrigation.
In recent times, environmental awareness and concerns resulting from climate change and climate variability, as well as increasing demands for potable water underscore rainwater harvesting as a means of increasing water supplies.
“Ensuring that populations have access to safe and affordable potable water is a basic human right” said Dr C James Hospedales, Executive Director, CARPHA. He also added that CARPHA strongly supports the responsible harvesting and use of rainwater in the Caribbean.
Dr Hospedales asserted that “Rainwater harvesting contributes to water security and to meeting some of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals on environmental sustainability. Sensible, sustainable and responsible use of rainwater harvesting technology is a promising measure for coping with the effects of climate change and can act as a buffer against drought”
The harvesting of rainwater has a role to play in building climate resilience, as the Caribbean Region continues to experience increased periods of below average rainfall, which has been attributed to climate change. A shortfall in water availability has implications for health in addition to other livelihood activities and business stability.
Although RWH may not be practical for long term, high volume consumption, it can provide a cushion during periods of interruption, limited access and short term quality issues stemming from the municipal supply or other conventional sources.
RWH is also essential for disaster risk reduction. After extreme, destructive natural disasters such as hurricanes and tropical storms, damage to water infrastructure and contamination of water supplies may occur. While there may also be some damage to RWH systems, because these are decentralized, there is the likelihood that some would remain functional and allow access to water for sanitation and, if properly treated, for consumption.
The main concern about harvesting rainwater is the need to monitor the storage of water to ensure that it is properly monitored so as to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes. Of considerable concern would be the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is linked with dengue fever and chikungunya. Attempts to conventionalise RWH would have to, among other things, ensure a system for examining and maintaining clean water storage tanks.

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