How to fit a rainwater harvesting system at home |18 March 2011

A project to promote rainwater collection started recently and, as part of plans to educate people more on how it works, a half-day practical demonstration will be given at Orion Mall, starting at 8am.

Led by the Sustainability for Seychelles (S4S) non-governmental organisation and financed by the Global Environment Fund’s small grants programme, the project is also supported by partners such as the Public Utilities Corporation.

S4S project coordinator Herve Barois said they received a grant of $50,000 for the project, which started in October last year and will take place over a 15-month period.

The project is designed to collect rainwater running off roofs, store it in a tank so it is available for gardening, washing cars, flushing toilets and other uses that do not need treated water.

“We are aiming to give households in Seychelles a rainwater tank, which will bring them many advantages such as cutting down on the amount of treated water they get, thus lowering their water bills and enabling them to have water at times of scarcity,” said Mr Barois.

He said S4S and the PUC will be at Orion Mall to show people how to instal a rainwater harvesting system at home. They will have tanks on display to show what the end result should be.

Tomorrow the public can also register and pay for their 500-litre water barrels at R1,000 each, after which they can be picked up at the S4S office at English River.

Mr Barois said they have a stock of 100 barrels for now and will receive 100 more soon, which will be slightly smaller. He hoped other companies they are working in collaboration with will follow suit to help them bring in more barrels – all of which will be sold at a subsidised price.

The demonstrations will include videos that the public can watch to learn how to instal their own system.

By Ivan Hollanda