Author(s)

Tulinave Burton Mwamila^1*, Moo Young Han², Zacharia Katambara³

¹Department of Rural Water Supply, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
²Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
³Department of Built Environment Engineering, Mbeya University of Science and Technology, Mbeya, Tanzania.

There are socio-technological challenges towards extension of the application of rainwater harvesting (RWH) practices in developing countries. An attempt to address this was done using the Mnyundo Primary School, Tanzania, as a study area for evaluating the technical, economic, and social challenges of RWH practices. A storage water level monitoring gauge was used so as to simplify rainwater quantity control and utilization strategy. Basic quality control components such as first flush tank were incorporated so as to reduce the particle load flowing into the storage. Cost reduction strategies such as the one (1) company one (1) community campaign were applied to address the cost implication. To enhance ownership, participatory approach of the beneficiaries in all stages including planning, designing and implementation was adopted. In order to ensure project sustainability, training on how to operate and maintain were provided as well as a maintenance manual to impart a sense of ownership. For the challenges of imparting RWH practices in Tanzania, 19 solutions have been identified and they include provision of RWH manuals, guidelines and regulations, government incentives, and promotion of self-financing initiatives. For developing countries, the study proposes the following strategies: establishing relevant regulations and research centers, enhancing individual and community financial stability, conducting demonstration projects, and increased investment by government on promotion.

Community Based Rainwater Harvesting, Rainwater Harvesting Challenges, Rainwater Harvesting Adoption, Rainwater Harvesting Sustainability, Tanzania

Mwamila, T. , Han, M. and Katambara, Z. (2016) Strategy to Overcome Barriers of Rainwater Harvesting, Case Study Tanzania. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 4, 13-23. doi: 10.4236/gep.2016.49002.