Japan’s city of Kobe, which depends on a pipeline from the distant Lake Biwa for most of its water, was severely affected when the earthquake destroyed the city water supply line in 1995. During the approximately one month it took to repair the pipeline, Kobe’s municipal functions were ground to a halt. To ameliorate this problem, 100 tanks each having a capacity of 200 liters, were delivered daily by the People for Rainwater ( PR ) to secure emergency water for drinking, cooking and washing to the four districts of the City. They proved to be very effective as life points. Even after recovery of the city water supply, many Kobe residents connected tanks to the down pipes of their houses for roof water harvesting.
Keywords: rainwater harvesting, disaster management, flooding mitigation, active water harvesting, tanks