An inventory of rainwater harvesting technologies in Swaziland

Rainwater harvesting involves water collection from surfaces on which rain falls and storing it for later use. Although water supply shortages are a global problem, not much has been done to exploit the rainwater harvesting benefits in Swaziland. A descriptive study using structured questionnaire was conducted to identify rainwater harvesting technologies used in Swaziland. Purposive sampling was employed in targeting 714 households practising rainwater harvesting in four ecological zones. Results indicated technologies consisting of a catchment, conveyance system and storage reservoir. Reservoirs comprised drums, buckets, metal tanks, trailed bowsers, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tanks. Roof catchments with aboveground reservoirs were utilised by 99.6% households, whereas roof catchments with underground reservoir was used by 0.1% household and 0.3% used ground catchments. The lowveld had the highest (31.1%) households using corrugated sheets roof catchments; whereas the highveld and middleveld had 26.6 and 21.6% households using this catchment. The Lubombo Plateau used diverse catchments materials; 20.7% corrugated sheets, 0.1% grass (bamboo) and 0.3% vegetated ground catchments. The water stored per household ranged from < 100 L, to > 1,000 L. Technologies cost ranged from < E100 (< $13.37), to > E1000 (> $133.71). It was concluded that there is potential for increasing water harvesting in the regions where practised. [authors abstract]