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'''''Harvesting rainwater through an innovative model provides potable drinking water in Mewat'''''
[[Image:Schematic diagram of sweet water pocket within a saline aquifer.jpg | thumb | right | 150px | Click the picture to see the full size]]
This innovative model was originally conceptualised by civil engineer Lalit Mohan Sharma, who has been finding solutions to the water issues of rural Mewat for past 15 years with input from a talented team of experts. The primary issues in all the villages of Mewat were related to availability, accessibility, and quality of water. The HPRW was designed to address the prevailing conditions in the district, i.e., shallow groundwater table (depth about 4 meters), silt or sandy soil, and high levels of salinity in groundwater in all but 60 of the 431 villages of Mewat.
In November 2014, Millennium Alliance awarded a grant to Sehgal Foundation, to build the innovative model in four schools in Mewat and Sukhpuri is one of the schools. Sukhpuri has 356 school children and teachers and roof area of 3,024 square feet. With an average rainfall of 600mm, this system can harvest nearly 1,50,000 litres of rainwater per year, which can comfortably meet the annual drinking and cooking water needs of the school. The decision by the community and school to construct a HPRW is paying rich dividends and changing the lives of schoolchildren. Responses from various stakeholders of the project reflect this. “There is good-quality drinking water in school with the construction of the system. There was no regular system of government water supply in the school and we had to spend time and money to get water, but now that is not the case. . . HPRW is a “अनोखी सोगात” (unique gift) for children,” says Haji Sirajjudin, a Village Development Committee member. “I have participated in all the meetings related to this project. Even though I do not have formal education, I understand the science behind the technology. I regularly monitored the construction work” He pointed out that the school has a security guard, Fazruddin, who takes care of the school and the infrastructure after school hours. Fazruddin, says, “Children, don’t throw stones at pipes or fiddle with the taps . . . I have seen a change in their behavior; they are more responsible toward the tank.” The schoolchildren and staff learned about the benefits of the project from a water literacy session and monthly meetings conducted at the school by Abid Hussain, the Sehgal Foundation coordinator of the project. He observed, “Initially, the school was hesitant about the project, but with regular face-to-face interaction, we won their trust and respect, which helped us in carrying out the work smoothly.” HPRW was installed in June 2015. Aravind, the school teacher, says, “Water is now available in the school, which has helped in student retention especially after the distribution of midday meal.” The midday meal cook of the school, Muniri Bai, says that “Earlier I used to bring water from home for cooking, but now, I use water from the newly constructed system. This has reduced the burden of carrying water and also saves my time and energy.” Schoolchildren are overjoyed as they now have water within the school premises. “The ‘Pressurized Recharge Wells: Ensuring Water Availability in Saline Water Areas’ project has so far supported two HPRWs in Mewat district and work on a third HPRW is underway,” says Parth Gohel the project leader. A similar structure constructed in Jargali village, 20km away from Sukhpuri School, has ended years of water misery in the school. The effective functioning of these models will provide the basis for government to consider further replication of the HPRW innovation. == Acknowledgements ==This article is published from [http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/high-pressure-recharge-well-rescue-school-children-mewat-haryana]s