Harvested rainwater meets 60% demand for non-drinkable water in RMG: study

The harvested rainwater meets minimum 15 per cent and up to 60 per cent demand for non-drinkable water in the textile and garment factories, which is helpful for greening the industry and cutting its overdependence on groundwater, a study finds.

Under the study, 65 textile and garment factories were surveyed to know the demand and consumption of water in the production of goods.

Of them, 12 factories have 2,000 square metres of catchment areas of rainwater, 40 factories have 2,000-8,000 square metres and 13 have 8,000 square metres, according to the study jointly conducted by WaterAid and RAiN Forum.

The annual demand for non-drinkable water in 17 factories is 10,000 cubic metres, between 10,000 and 50,000 cubic metres in 32 factories and 50,000 cubic metres in 16 factories, the study also said.

Thirty four factories have the annual potential of harvesting 10,000 cubic metres of rainwater, 15 has potential between 10,000 and 30,000 cubic metres and 16 have 30,000 cubic metres in a year.

Some six factories meet 15 per cent of the non-drinkable water from the harvested rainwater, 39 meet 15-60 per cent and 20 meet 60 per cent.

An entrepreneur needs to invest Tk 65 lakh to make the reservoir in the factory area to harvest the rainwater to be used mainly in toilet flushes and for other non-drinking purposes.

The payback period of the invested money in the reservoir is seven to 10 years as the rainwater harvesting reduces the groundwater consumption and operational costs.

"The harvested rainwater meet even 100 per cent demand of non-drinkable water in some garment factories, which do not have the dyeing and washing units," said Md Ashraful Alum, member secretary to the RAiN Forum.

He presented a keynote paper on the research findings at a discussion on industrial rainwater harvesting.

WaterAid, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the Bangladesh Apparel Youth Leaders Association jointly organised the discussion at The Westin Dhaka hotel where international retailers and brands; garment industry leaders, apparel exporters and researchers were also present.