Turkey (Beypazari)

After seeing the successful models of rainwater harvesting in Beypazarı, Turkey, people in neighboring communities are copying the technology in their own homes and enjoying the benefits and access to sustainable water sources.

BEYPAZARI – Roof Top Water Harvesting Project

Access to safe and reliable drinking water sources is a major issue for rural poor communities in many areas in Turkey such as the Central Anatolia Plateau. People use ground or reservoir water for drinking and domestic purposes.

One of the most remote of these areas is Tekke Kuyumcu Village near Beypazarı. Due to scarcity of water resources in the village, water is only provided to the villagers for one hour each day, this duration decreases to only half an hour in the summer. Moreover, there is no ground water in the district, which prevents the construction of other water systems. The only available option for villages to access water is by using the depots that are far from the city and fetching this water from long distances puts a burden on women and children.

The Roof-Top Water Harvesting Project is designed to bring a new water resource to the Tekke Kuyumcu Village. Roof-Top Water Harvestingis basically the  practice of collecting the rainwater that falls on a roof before it reaches the ground. It offers a new and alternative reliable source of water for domestic uses and its quality can be maintained with moderate efforts.

The Roof-Top Water Harvesting System has considerable potential as a source of alternative water supply where other sources of water are either not available or too expensive. The system is suitable for areas such as the Central Anatolia Plateau with an average annual rainfall about 400 mm, where other sources of freshwater are not easily accessible and rural communities face hardships in fetching the water year round.