What are catchments?

A catchment area serves a storage space for the collection of rain water.

There are two types of catchments:
Roof catchments- The rooftop is usually the most common catchment surface and can be flat or sloping.

• Smooth, hard and dense roofs are preferred since they are easier to clean and are less likely to be damaged and release materials/fibres into the water.
• The catchment surface should slope slightly towards the down take pipes so that water does not stagnate on the roof.
• A catchment that slopes towards a single direction, preferably in the direction of the sump / borewell will reduce piping costs

Ground level catchments- If the storage tank is below the ground level, paved flooring surfaces and open grounds can also serve as catchments.