WATER CONSERVATION Edited by Manoj K. Jha Water Conservation Edited by Manoj K. Jha Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Gorana Scerbe Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team Image Copyright Tischenko Irina, 2011. Used under license from Shutterstock.com First published December, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Water Conservation, Edited by Manoj K. Jha p. cm. 978-953-307-960-8 free online editions of InTech Books and Journals can be found at www.intechopen.com Contents Preface VII Chapter 1 Review of Water-Harvesting Techniques to Benefit Forage Growth and Livestock on Arid and Semiarid Rangelands 1 Albert Rango and Kris Havstad Chapter 2 Importance of Percolation Tanks for Water Conservation for Sustainable Development of Ground Water in Hard-Rock Aquifers in India 19 Shrikant Daji Limaye Chapter 3 Performance Assessment and Adoption Status of Family Drip Irrigation System in Tigray State, Northern Ethiopia 31 Nigussie Haregeweyn, Abraha Gebrekiros, Atsushi Tsunkeawa, Mitsuru Tsubo, Derege Meshesha and Eyasu Yazew Chapter 4 Alternative Management Practices for Water Conservation in Dryland Farming: A Case Study in Bijar, Iran 47 Fardin Sadegh-Zadeh, Samsuri Abd Wahid, Bahi J. Seh-Bardan, Espitman J. Seh-Bardan and Alagie Bah Chapter 5 Determination of the Storage Volume in Rainwater Harvesting Building Systems: Incorporation of Economic Variable 67 Marina Sangoi de Oliveira Ilha and Marcus André Siqueira Campos Chapter 6 Analysis of Potable Water Savings Using Behavioural Models 89 Marcelo Marcel Cordova and Enedir Ghisi Chapter 7 Water Management in the Petroleum Refining Industry 105 Petia Mijaylova Nacheva Chapter 8 Economic Principles for Water Conservation Tariffs and Incentives 129 John P. Hoehn Preface Water is an essential and basic human need for urban, industrial and agricultural use. While there exists an abundance of fresh water resources is available, its uneven distribution around the globe creates challenges for the sustainable use of this resource. According to World Health Organization in 2011, over 1 billion people lack safe drinking water, approximately 3 billion people lack adequate sanitation, and over 2 million people die annually from water-related diseases. Various factors such as population growth, industrialization, food production, and increased global economy activity continue to challenge water resources management. These factors, coupled with the consequences of global warming, present many challenges for future generations. Water conservation refers to an efficient and optimal use as well as protection of valuable water resources and its users can be broadly classified into two groups: users (such as residential users, industries and agriculture), and operators (such as municipalities, state and local government, and privately owned suppliers). Various tools and techniques have been developed and continue to develop for water conservation for both groups of water users. Choice of which water conservation practices adopted depend on types of uses and suitability of locations. Some commonly used techniques include rainwater harvesting, water reuse and recycling, cooling water recycling, irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation, agricultural management practices, groundwater management, public education, water conservation incentives, and others. Rainwater harvesting for use in building systems substitutes the potable water in activities where the use of potable water is not required. Water-harvesting techniques in arid and semi-arid regions facilitate better infiltration and increase in soil moisture which promotes significant vegetation growth for habitat cover and forage. Water conservation through drip irrigation, for instance, is a very efficient technique where virtually no water is lost to runoff, deep percolation or evaporation; however, it involves costs that need economic incentives or justification. Large quantity of waste water generated in industries such as petroleum refinery can be reused efficiently in the cooling systems. In addition to these and other tools and techniques for water conservation practices, economical incentives have also been viewed as an effective tool to promote efficient water conservation. VIII Preface This book provides state-of-the-art reviews and various tools and techniques used in the context of water conservation, with case studies of international perspectives from India, Mexico, Ethiopia, Brazil, Iran, and Unite States of America. And it is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 1 reviews various water-harvesting techniques in arid and semi-arid rangelands where sparse, sporadic, and spatially widespread rainfall is dominant. Chapter 2 talks about rain-harvesting techniques for artificial groundwater recharge in areas of hard-rock aquifer in monsoon climate where rainfall is available only for short period of time. Chapter 3 presents the case study of a family drip irrigation system in Northern Ethiopia. Chapter 4 evaluates soil and water conservation techniques through field experiments on various alternative land management practices in dry land farming areas. Chapters 5 and 6 elaborate on rain-harvesting techniques in urban settings. Chapter 7 explains appropriate water management options for wastewater reuse and water use minimization with case study in two Mexican refineries. And, last but not the least, Chapter 8 shed lights on various economic principles central to water resources management and how these principles are used in designing water conservation tariffs and incentives. I sincerely hope that this book will be a valuable resource to researchers, instructors, decision-makers, and others interested in water conservation area. The editor gratefully acknowledges the hard work and patience of all the authors who have contributed to this book. The views or opinions expressed in each chapter of this book are those of the authors. Special thanks go to the editorial team for their hard work and timely completion of this book. Manoj K. Jha, Ph.D., Professor, Civil Engineering North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA [...]... less than 10 0 -13 0 mm during the growing season, it would typically not produce enough runoff to justify installation of a water spreader (Bennett, 19 39) Results produced by Valentine (19 47), Hubbell & Gardner (19 50), Hubbard & Smoliak (19 53), Branson (19 56), Houston (19 60), and Hadley & McQueen (19 61) showed increases in yield of forage grasses from small to large amounts (Miller et al., 19 69) Forage... Myers, 19 83, Hudson, 19 87, Critchley, et al., 19 91, and Renner & Frazier, 19 95) The percentage of the world’s total land surface area occupied by rangeland is between 40% to 70% depending on the definition used by the author (Branson, et al., 19 81; Heady & Child 19 94; and Holechek et al., 19 95) Approximately 80% of all the world’s rangeland is found in arid and semiarid regions (Branson et al., 19 81) ,... resulting increase in vegetation growth (Tongway et al., 20 01) Date Installed Height Number of Dikes Soil Texture Taylor Well 19 75 7.5 cm 5 Fine Ace Tank 19 75 15 cm 5 Fine Brown Tank 19 78 15 cm 3 Fine Dona Ana Exclosure 19 81 30 cm 12 Medium-Coarse Location Table 1 Attributes of water ponding dikes established on the Jornada Experimental Range in southcentral New Mexico ... Branson (19 62) report that 899 water conservation structures established by the CCC were located and appraised in 19 49 and 19 61 in the Upper Gila and Mimbres River watersheds in Arizona and New Mexico The effectiveness of the treatments were assessed in terms of vegetation improvement, longevity, and quantities of sediment retained by the structures More than half of the structures were breached by water. .. northwest New Mexico for at least the last 1, 000 years (Zaunderer & Hutchinson, 19 88) The rainwater harvesting approaches cited as used in the Negev Desert include terraces in wadis that are still under cultivation by local Bedouins and water harvesting farms reconstructed as part of an experiment by researchers at local universities (Evenari et al., 19 82) Figure 1 is an aerial photo showing a farm unit... 19 82) 4 Water Conservation Fig 2 Water spreading system in Pakistan to divert excess flood water ponding dikes (after Prinz & Malik, 2002, as adapted from French & Hussain, 19 64) Another study (Miller et al., 19 69) of water spreader effectiveness found that the response of forage vegetation was dependent on rainfall characteristics, runoff production, and drainage of water detained in ponds behind dikes... and how to employ various water harvesting approaches The authors have reviewed 2 Water Conservation and assembled key water harvesting documentation which indicates that the techniques are easily used with the most effective approach for enhancing soil moisture and forage growth coming from constructing shallow water ponding dikes across known overland flow paths For livestock watering, the construction... Jornada were installed between 19 75 -19 81 (Rango et al., 2006) These types of dikes can be constructed with a tractor and mold board plow or with a road grader as in this experiment (See Figure 3) Review of Water- Harvesting Techniques to Benefit Forage Growth and Livestock on Arid and Semiarid Rangelands a 5 b c Fig 3 Development of water ponding dikes at the Jornada showing a) 15 cm dikes at the Ace Tank... effective water applications were where earthen dikes were not breached and water was able to reach the spreader system, which resulted in vegetation improvement even in the driest areas of the region Fig 1 Aerial photograph of a farm unit near Shivta in the Negev Desert A terraced wadi and stone conduits leading runoff from hillsides to terraces are visible (after Evenari et al., 19 82) 4 Water Conservation. .. delivered to a sequence of water ponding dikes that have historically been used on rangelands in the Middle East (Prinz & Malik, 2002, as adapted from French & Hussain, 19 64) These types of water spreaders are typical of those used in arid regions around the world However, as reported in Fedelibus & Bainbridge (19 95), “like many great solutions to environmental Review of Water- Harvesting Techniques . Texture Taylor Well 19 75 7.5 cm 5 Fine Ace Tank 19 75 15 cm 5 Fine Brown Tank 19 78 15 cm 3 Fine Dona Ana Exclosure 19 81 30 cm 12 Medium-Coarse Table 1. Attributes of water ponding dikes established. Peterson & Branson (19 62) report that 899 water conservation structures established by the CCC were located and appraised in 19 49 and 19 61 in the Upper Gila and Mimbres River watersheds in Arizona. produced by Valentine (19 47), Hubbell & Gardner (19 50), Hubbard & Smoliak (19 53), Branson (19 56), Houston (19 60), and Hadley & McQueen (19 61) showed increases in yield of forage grasses