![]()
Anjali Nair
Independent Researcher
India
Abstract
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a sustainable and cost-effective method for supplementing water supply, especially in urban residential settings facing water scarcity. This paper presents the design considerations, methodologies, and performance analysis of rainwater harvesting systems tailored for urban houses. The study explores system components such as catchment area, conveyance, storage, and filtration. A detailed methodology for system sizing based on rainfall patterns and household water demand is provided. The results demonstrate the potential water savings and reliability of the system under various urban rainfall scenarios. The study concludes with recommendations for optimizing RWH system design to promote water conservation and reduce urban water demand.
Keywords
Rainwater harvesting, Urban houses, Water conservation, System design, Storage capacity, Water demand
REFERENCES
- Khastagir, A. & Jayasuriya, L. N. N. (2010) — “Impacts of using rainwater tanks on stormwater harvesting and runoff quality.” Water Science and Technology, 62, pp. 324–329. This study examines rainwater tank performance and water quality impacts net+9researchgate.net+9researchgate.net+9en.wikipedia.org.
- Song, J. & Han, M. (2010) — “Rainwater Harvesting as a Sustainable Water Supply Option in Banda Aceh.” Desalination, 248, 233–240. Highlights design and feasibility in urban residential areas net.
- Rahman, M. M. et al. (2014) — “Rainwater Management in Compliance with Sustainable Design of Buildings.” Procedia Engineering, 2014. Reviews strategies aligning RWH with sustainable urban building design com+15en.wikipedia.org+15researchgate.net+15.
- Pyke, C. et al. (2011) — “Assessment of Low Impact Development for Managing Stormwater with Changing Precipitation.” Landscape and Urban Planning, 2011. Though primarily LID, it includes rooftop-harvest system design insights wikipedia.org.
- Niu, Z.-G. et al. (2016) — “Stormwater infiltration and surface runoff pollution reduction performance of permeable pavement layers.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Feb 2016. Includes rainwater capture integration in urban surfaces wikipedia.org.
- Freni, G. & Liuzzo, L. (2019) — “Effectiveness of rainwater harvesting systems for flood reduction in residential urban areas.” Water, 11(7), 1389. Quantifies RWH system performance in reducing runoff com+1lfs-mlws-2020.sites.olt.ubc.ca+1.
- Azuara, O. et al. (2019) — “A Review of Rainwater Harvesting System.” Review covering models and planning for residential implementation net.
- Tanyimboh, Q. & Nyawo, N. (2019) — “Design and Evaluation of Rainwater Harvesting System in an Urban Residential Complex in Johannesburg.” Shows RWH design for urban houses and peak flow reduction net.
- Bartos, M. & Kerkez, B. (2018) — “Hydrograph peak-shaving… hydraulic control structures.” arXiv, Sept 2018. Though broader, methodology informs on sizing/storage to reduce peak runoff org+1arxiv.org+1.
- Adley, C. et al. (2016) — “A Mathematical Model of the Rainwater Flows in a Green Roof.” arXiv, Apr 2016. Offers modeling approach usable in designing harvested roof water systems org+1en.wikipedia.org+1.
- Niu, Zhi-Guang et al. (2016) — Deep dive on permeable designs: water infiltration tied to rooftop and pavement-based storage wikipedia.org.