Book chapter
Rainwater harvesting: using urban roof runoff for residential toilet flushing
Metropolitan Sustainability: Understanding and Improving the Urban Environment, pp 350-369
01 Jan 2012
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) practices are receiving increased attention from urban water managers as a means of potentially reducing potable water consumption. By using rainwater harvested from urban catchments for a variety of non-potable water uses, the quantity of water extracted from source water watersheds can be reduced, with potential ecological, economic and even social benefits. In this context, RWH can be a key component of efforts to promote metropolitan sustainability. This chapter examines the reliability with which roof runoff - harvested, stored and used for toilet flushing, can reduce residential potable water consumption. The focus is on roof runoff as opposed to other sources, due to the proliferation of rooftops in metropolitan areas and the relative ease with which these sources can be accessed. Analysis is performed using the Storage and Reliability Estimation Tool (SARET) and results for four US cities are compared. Reliability contours are generated that allow visualization of gradients in long-term reliability. The analysis indicates that residential toilet flushing demand could be met with 50-94% reliability, the range being determined by differences in per capita demand, roof area and precipitation patterns. The results are discussed with respect to the assumption of stationary precipitation patterns, the algorithm used by the model to develop the reliability ensembles, the assumed initial condition of the simulations and other differences between the metropolitan areas studied.
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Details
- Title
- Rainwater harvesting: using urban roof runoff for residential toilet flushing
- Creators
- N. Rostad - Drexel UniversityF. Montalto - Drexel University
- Contributors
- F Zeman (Editor)
- Publication Details
- Metropolitan Sustainability: Understanding and Improving the Urban Environment, pp 350-369
- Series
- Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy
- Publisher
- Woodhead Publ Ltd; CAMBRIDGE
- Number of pages
- 20
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering; Center for Public Policy
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000314305900016
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84902564309
- Other Identifier
- 991019170333104721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Energy & Fuels
- Engineering, Civil
- Environmental Sciences