Evaluation of different sealing materials for reducing seepage losses in water harvesting tanks

Abstract

Various sealing materials were first studied in the laboratory and the best three viz. cement, rice husk ash and bentonite clay were selected for studying their effectiveness to minimize seepage losses in water tanks. For this study 33 earthen tanks were dug at the departmental farm and the various sealing materials with different proportions and thicknesses were applied on the surface of the tanks and the drawdown of water with time was recorded. Cement: soil (1:10 vol. basis) with a thickness of 3.75 cm was found most effective with 89.9 percent seepage reduction. Cement: soil (1:10 vol. basis) with 2.50 cm thickness was observed to rank second in effectiveness and the treatment was observed to be most cost effective with seepage reduction coming down to 81.8 per cent.