Gramalya recently entered into RWH – Rain water harvesting for drinking purpose. The one year experience in the coastal areas of Nagapattinam and the rural, urban areas of Tiruchirappalli District proved that rain water could be made as drinkable water. Unlike the conventional rain water harvesting for recharging purpose, the project after a series of field testing and technical support from experts in this field successfully implemented this project in the tsunami affected areas of Nagapattinam District, Thottiyam, Thathaiengarpet and Thuraiyur Block of rural areas and in the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation. The rainwater is harvested from the roof of concrete houses, tiled houses and thatched houses and brought down through PVC pipes to the ground-level tanks after filtration. The whole system is technically planned with more care including the first flush system, filtration point, provision for overflow from the water tank etc.,

Many interesting case studies are coming out from the women and children, panchayat presidents after the usage of rainwater for drinking purpose. There are villages like Sukkampatti, BharathiNagar, Managalam, Kannanur Palayam where drinking water is mainly used by the residents using the rain water through harvesting structures. If rainwater is preserved through tight containers without direct sunlight, we can use the water for drinking purpose for more than a year. As a result of the considerable impact created among the users, Gramalaya is receiving more demands from the general public. Gramalaya is making tie-up arrangement with Guardian MFI for extending loan facilities for setting up of rain water harvesting tanks for drinking purpose through its WaterCredit. So far, Gramalaya installed more than 300 RWH structures in its operational area with the funding assistance from WaterAid, Arghyam and WaterPartners International support.