Browsing by Author "Nyaga, Dishon Ngari"

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    Water harvesting as an alternative source of water in semi-arid areas of less developed nations
    (University of New Brunswick, 1990) Nyaga, Dishon Ngari; Bray, Dale; D., Bray
    C o n v e n t i o n a l water s u p p l y systems are very expensive to d e v e l o p in s e m i - a r i d a r e a s . The l e s s developed n a t i o n s can h a r d l y a f f o r d to c o n s t r u c t expensive schemes as massive amounts of c a p i t a l and s u b s t a n t i a l t e c h n o l o g i c a l e x p e r t i se i s r e q u i r e d f o r t h e i r c o n s t r u c t i o n . As a consequence, n a t i o n s are f o r c e d to look f o r cheaper water supply systems. I n s e m i - a r i d a r e a s , t h e r e are c h r o n i c water s h o r t a g e s . The s h o r t a g e s are b r o u g h t about by uneven r a i n f a l l d i s t r i b u t i o n. R a i n f a l l can be h a r v e s t e d by labour i n t e n s i v e methods which need l i t t l e e x p e r t i s e and c a p i t a l. The water h a r v e s t i n g systems which can be employed f or h a r v e s t i n g or t a p p i n g r a i n f a l l i n v o l v e the c o l l e c t i o n of water from: i> n a t u r a l watersheds and s t o r i n g i t i n " s u r b s u r f a ce dams." i i > compacted road s u r f a c e s and s t o r i n g i t i n s u r f a c e ponds or r e s e r v o i r s. i i i ) rock s u r f a c e s (where a p p l i c a b l e ) and s t o r i n g i t i n open p l a s t e r e d water t a n k s , and i v ) c o r r u g a t e d s t e e l or t i l e d house r o o f s u r f a c e s and s t o r i n g i t i n c l o s e d water t a n k s. The above water h a r v e s t i n g systems can be used s i n g l y or i n c o m b i n a t i o n depending on t h e i n t e n d e d water uses. T h i s r e p o r t c o n s i d e r s the a d v a n t a g e s and d i s a d v a n t a g e s of each o f t h e s e systems when a p p l i e d i n a s e m i - a r i d r e g i o n of Kenya. Approximate costs a s s o c i a t e d w i t h each method a re e v a l u a t e d f o r e a c h o f t h e m a j o r water h a r v e s t i n g systems f o r a s p e c i f i e d p o p u l a t i o n o f human b e i n g s and a n i m a l s.