Increasing adoption of rainwater harvesting technologies in rural India

Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) technology continues to be highly recommended as a potential solution to deal with water scarcity in developed as well as developing countries such as India and includes various methods such as Rooftop rainwater harvesting (RRWH), surface runoff collection, flood runoff harvesting, and in-situ RWH.

Among these, the rooftop rainwater harvesting technique is commonly adopted at the domestic level by installing RWH systems informs this paper titled 'New technology adoption in rural areas of emerging economies: The case of rainwater harvesting systems in India' published in Technological Forecasting & Social Change.

Benefits of RWH

RWH technologies have multiple economic, environmental and societal benefits and can minimise the reliance on fresh water sources such as rivers, lakes and ground water and help in conserving water resources while preventing water stress. Diverting the rainwater falling on the roofs into a storage tank also helps in preventing soil erosion as the runoff volume is controlled indirectly. The stored water can be used at the household level as well as for agriculture and irrigation depending on the quality of collected water.

Rainwater harvesting technologies across the globe include Centralised Rainwater Harvesting (CRH) and De-centralised rainwater harvesting (DRH) technologies. In the case of CRH, a common storage tank is constructed for a group of dwellings, while separate collection barrels are used in the case of DRH. Although CRH has the potential to meet a significant part of the water demand, its high costs have made DRH technologies more popular. Harvested water is free from contaminants and salinity, potable and serves as an economically viable solution where the water tariff is high. RWH systems can also aid in reducing the risk of floods. 

The study

Despite of the associated benefits with RWHS technology, its uptake continues to be limited in rural India. and there is very little information on the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that can help in the adoption of RWH technology in rural India.

The present study aimed at exploring:  

• The Critical Success Factors (CSFs) needed to promote the adoption of Rainwater Harvesting technologies in rural India 
• Interrelationships between the CSFs and the strategies that can be useful to promote the use of Rainwater Harvesting technologies in rural India 

The study used focus group discussions involving local stake holders, scientific experts and policy makers and included a survey with experts who had a minimum of 10 years' experience in implementing RWH technologies in rural India was conducted.

Policy initiatives on RWH in India

India has taken several policy initiatives to promote water harvesting. For example, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), launched in year 2015, aims to promote rainwater harvesting to prevent water scarcity . Similarly, the Jal Shakti Abhiyan started in 2019,  promotes the construction of rainwater harvesting systems. The National Water Policy 2021 also encourages the State Governments to create state-level implementation plans to promote the implementation of rainwater harvesting systems. 

However, the laws and policies have been formalised by only a few states. In some cases, the byelaws are confined to few buildings as they make it mandatory only for buildings with rooftop area above 300 m². This threshold is substantially high for rural dwellings, which prevents their inclusion within the remit of these byelaws. Thus, it is important to explore factors that can help in promoting wider adoption of RWH systems and help in formulating and refining current policy.

The findings

The study identifies eight critical success factors (CSFs) that promote the adoption of RWH technologies in rural India. These include:

• Creating awareness about RWH technologies is one of the prime motivators that enables rural community residents to understand the need for installing the RWH system. 
• Perceived ease of use influences RWH technology adoption, and studies show that if individuals find using RWH systems easy, they are more likely to adopt RWH technology. 
• Technology innovation: The robustness and benefits of new technology can substantially impact its adoption in rural areas. 
• Creating a skilled workforce who can install a RWH system is an advantage in this industry, as their availability builds trust in the services. 
• Drafting constructive regulations and guidelines can act as a catalyst for the adoption of RWH technologies. 
• Tax incentives to companies and subsidies have an influential role in promoting the adoption of RWH technology in rural areas. 

The study develops a new roadmap/ action plan to promote the adoption of RWH technologies in rural areas. The proposed roadmap includes critical components that are derived from the CSFs and include steps such as: 

• Explore and Investigate: To create a database and tools required to translate the theory into practice. For this component, the creation of a think tank composed of experts, academicians, government officials, and industry personnel with significant experience in implementing rainwater harvesting and water conservation techniques is proposed. Furthermore, generating thematic maps of governing variables and geospatial databases of villages can facilitate the identification of target regions. Following this, interventions such as providing rainwater harvesting calculators to the residents of the identified target regions can create a positive outlook on RWH technology to increase its adoption. 
• Create Awareness: By conducting workshops and seminars, short films, manuals at the level of schools and villages to help villagers understand the current ground water level scenario and  sources of the water supply. These can help develop a positive attitude towards the adoption of RWH technologies. In a similar manner, producing short films and distributing manuals explaining the design aspects are likely to have a significant impact on the attitude of people towards these technologies. 
• Develop an understanding of usefulness and ease of use among people: Planning activities that can explain the architecture and the working principles of RWH technology can help to change perception and help ease of use. Conducting attitudinal surveys using well-designed questionnaires, behavior-specific interviews, focus group discussions with stakeholders, and field visits can provide rich insights and help people to participate and share their perceptions. 
• Training & Support: To ensure availability of skilled workforce and technology innovation. Creating a skilled workforce that can install these unconventional systems will encourage wider adoption of RWH systems. Introduction of schemes that can provide subsidies are also beneficial. R&D activities can enable the adoption of such technologies to rural areas considering the income level and the initial investment cost involved. Technological innovation to overcome the problem of distrust on harvested water quality can become a catalyst in promoting its adoption. 
• Regulations and guidelines: Initiating schemes that promote the participation of manufacturing companies and creating one-stop shops for the components of RWH technologies can improve perceptions on their user-friendliness. Depending on the condition of the water availability, regulations can be formulated and enforced by law, as in the case of a major cities in India.
• Performance evaluation and feedback: Useful to evaluate the existing RWH technologies, their performance and feedback. Here, advances in complementary technologies, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and remote sensing, can be harnessed to monitor and assess the performance of the RWH systems. Continuous feedback from the community to understand their experiences and challenges and formulate new startegies can greatly help in the successful adoption of this technology in rural areas.