ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE OF GROUND WATER

Abstract

Overdraft conditions in certain areas resulting from the heavy abstractions to meet'out the continuously increasing demands of ground water, have necessiated the adoption of conservation measures. Artificial recharging of ground water offers, perhaps, the best solution in this direction. Moreover it has come up as the best available technique of preventing and pushing back sea water intrusions which are becoming a serious problem in almost all the coastal aquifers. Various methods of artificial recharge pract-ised so far are (I) Spreading methods which include flooding, basins, ditches and furrows and stream bed improvements; (2) injection methods which include recharge pits,, shafts, tunnels and recharge wells and (3) induced recharge methods. All these methods together with the analysis of the pertaining recharge phenomena, treatments to improve recharge rates and, the planning and designing of the recharge projects have been disc- rat ussed. In heavily crowded city areas with an actte shortage of surface water for recharge purposes, sewage reclaimation by artificially recharge methods offer very good prospects and is likely to develop in the coming future . Further investigations both in the field and laboratory as indicated are required to be carried to cover 4s, to rad the still unexplored or less fields of artificial recharge