Learning from drought and flood-hit Texas

One strategy is rainwater harvesting, which is cheap and low on technology

A report released by the World Resources Institute in August shows that 17 countries now have to deal with “extremely high” water stress, with Pakistan ranking at number 14 just below India. Several of these water-stressed countries, including Pakistan, now face the twin dangers of floods and droughts.

Like Pakistan, the water scarce state of Texas also faces floods and droughts due to global climate change and a growing population. Many Texans might deny human-made climate change is happening, yet the state is preparing for a hotter future with more extreme weather occurrences.

I recently visited Texas along with 15 journalists from water-scarce developing countries as part of a tour arranged by the US State Department titled “Creating a More Water Secure Future”. We learnt that the dry western states of the US are turning to water recycling and desalination in the future to meet their water needs.

Called direct potable reuse or “toilet to tap”, one water re-use system is already up and running in Texas. However, some communities are concerned about “drinking toilet water” even if it has been through an extensive filtration process. In the next decade, Texas will invest in desalination, which is twice as expensive as water from other sources but will ensure a “drought-free supply”.

In 2011 Texans experienced the worst drought conditions. Now every public water system in the state has to have drought contingency plans, which are specific plans at the local level. Such plans are needed in Pakistan in areas where water shortages are becoming regular events.

One strategy is rainwater harvesting, which is being individually implemented in Texas, and tax breaks are given to home-owners who set it up. Rainwater harvesting is low on technology and cheap — some NGOs have already introduced it in the hilly areas of Pakistan where it rains frequently. However, it really needs to be implemented throughout the country.

We were amazed to learn about Richard’s Rainwater, a private company that bottles pure rainwater and supplies to hip restaurants around Austin. Their Chief Executive Officer, Taylor O'Neil, gave us a presentation on the company. It was founded in 1994 by Richard, who created a rainwater system in his home and then went on to install over a 1,000 home rainwater collection systems for friends and neighbours. In 2002, he became the first person who was granted approval for bottling rainwater!

In October 2017, investors took over this company and set up a rainwater bottling operation at a brewery in Mississippi where it rains a lot — almost 60 inches a year. “Our water is sourced from rain and stored in fibreglass tanks,” he explained. As for any pollutants in the air, he says they are flushed out in the first few minutes of rainfall and then it is all pure water, even though they filter it and use ozone to clean it to meet regulations in Texas.

Their vision for the future is “to bottle rain as much we can” and to make water “local”. Asked if it could work in monsoon regions like Pakistan, the answer was: “Yes, you make underground tanks that can store the rainwater and get it to communities. It is still low-cost water.” Smooth, metal roofs like those found in Murree work the best and the faster you get water off the roof and into the tank the cleaner it will be.

This simple yet brilliant idea can provide clean drinking water to so many in both developed and developing countries. The company already has six to eight more facilities in the pipeline. As he pointed out, “rainwater is at the forefront of common-sense solutions” to water scarcity across the world!

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2019.

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