RAIN A-GAIN

A proposal to Reuse Rain Water, enhance Safety and reduce Carbon

Footprint in Transportation

Introduction

• Plumbline Engineers is company in existence since 1990, with it’s registered office in Bangalore, and is a specialist Plumbing and Firefighting contractor.

• Rain-A-Gain is a initiative to harvest rainwater and reuse them in automobiles for which patent application has been filed (5376/CHE/2013 dated 21/11/2013).

• It serves the primary purpose of saving and reusing rainwater, acts as a backs up as fire protection system, thereby increasing safety and can finally be used to reduce Carbon footprint in highly polluted areas.

• The promoters of this initiative wish to work closely with State owned Transport corporations, Private fleet owners and manufacturers of buses and other vehicles

• This is a high level proposal and details can be worked on specific inputs and options

Why are they Storing Water?

Storing Water

• Every Passenger Carrier (Let us take a bus for example) has an issue with the gasket or hose getting cut.

• Replacing the gasket or hose takes 15 minutes.

• The main issue here is that they need about 45 liters of water.

•Different Drivers had various reason for storing water

• So fact remains water is a necessity and as important as Diesel or CNG.

• This brings us to the conclusion that every bus needs a minimum amount of water to save time and prevent potentially longer breakdowns.

The basics and numbers of harvesting Rainwater in Buses

• A Bus typically has 20 sq. meters of Roof space.

• The catchment surface area can be maximized based on the coverage, contour and depth of the pipes.

• The basics of harvesting are followed here as well. There is a First Flush Filter and a Sand Bed Filter.

• One Cubic Meter of Water is 1000 Liters

• So, for example, If we have a 3 sq meter catchment area on the bus, and there is a moderate rainfall of 40mm/hr, in 3 hours, the bus can store and reuse 360 Liters of Water.

• The use includes pumping it to the Windshield cleaning tanks (after the rain stops and muck collects), routing it to a battery powered Fire pump or a sprinkler system or even to irrigate a rooftop garden.

Basic Design to Store Water

Our Design with Rain Water Harvesting

DESIGN DETAILS

1 - Rain Gutter2 - Water Holding Tank3 - Windshield Wiper Tank4 - Rain Water Inlet Pipe

5 - External Water Inlet Pipe6 - Vent Pipe7 - Overflow Pipe8 - Pump

9 - Outlet Nozzles

1 - Rain Gutter2 - Water Holding Tank3 - Windshield Wiper Tank4 - Rain Water Inlet Pipe

5 - External Water Inlet Pipe6 - Vent Pipe7 - Overflow Pipe8 - Pump

9 - Outlet Nozzles

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Our Design

Market Opportunities and Go-To-Market Plan

• The average rainfall in Karnataka for 2013 till date is 1248 mm

• Rainfall in 2010 in Bangalore Urban district was 960.1 mm

• Rainfall in 2010 in Shimoga district was 2478 mm

• Rainfall in 2010 Dakshina Kannada district was 4427 mm

• Proof of Concept is to retrofit 10 buses with the Rain-A-Gain design in moderate to high rainfall areas

• Retrofit a sprinkler system and a battery powered Fire hose in 5 buses

• Retrofit 10 additional buses in Urban areas with a hydroponic foam for Rooftop Gardens, to reduce Carbon footprint

• Target 1000 buses in the first year of operation. Savings and reuse potential would be in 100s of Million liters of water.

INCORPORATED FIRE FIGHTING SYSTEM

AFTER

RECENT FIRE ACCIDENTS IN BUS

FIRE PROTECTION SPRINKLER DESIGN FOR BUS

FIRE PROTECTION DESIGN DETAILS

1 - Fire Pump2 - Dedicated Power Supply3 - Fire Tank4 - External Water Inlet Pipe

5 - Vent Pipe6 - Fire Piping7 - Sprinklers

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FIRE PROTECTION & RAIN A-GAIN COMBINED DESIGN

Fire Safety in Trains

Thank You

• Grateful to the following persons for their valuable suggestions and improvements to this idea

• Mr. M. Chokalingam of Sri Varu• Mr.Armugam Nainar (Arun)• Mr. Mahesh Nagaraj• Mr. Shashikumar• Mrs Chitra Shashikumar• Mr. Rajan Urs• Mr.Jatin Christopher• Mr.Ravitej Rao

• Thanking my teachers of St.Xaviers School, Doranda, Ranchi.

• Class mates of 80 batch, seniors and juniors of St Xaviers school, Doranda, Ranchi