Rainwater harvesting scenarios and its prospective in Pakistan

Water is a precious commodity and water scarcity has become a serious issue in many parts of the world, especially in dense urban areas. Water resources are under increasing stress due to continuous population growth, agricultural development, urbanization, and industrialization. The gap between water demand and supply has also increased in recent years. This has resulted in increasing pressure on underground water resources as well as the depletion of groundwater aquifers at an alarming rate. Thus there is a growing need to explore viable methods and techniques to manage water availability, especially in urban areas. The objective of the current study was to determine the potential for rainwater harvesting (RWH) in the twin cities of Islamabad and Riwalpindi. We evaluated its suitability to supplement the water supply as well as contribute to groundwater recharge and flood control efforts. This could in turn help to overcome water demand, could potentially recharge depleting groundwater resources and could result in the development of a currently untapped additional water source for urban hubs.