Enhancing Stormwater Management Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting via Innovative Technologies
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 8
Abstract
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems provide the dual, but often opposing, benefits of acting as alternate water supply sources and providing detention/retention of roof runoff that would otherwise become stormwater runoff. A major challenge that exists when using a RWH system to simultaneously accomplish stormwater and water-conservation benefits in nonarid regions is that these systems are often underutilized, thus remaining full a large portion of the time. For a system to mitigate stormwater runoff, however, there must be sufficient room available in the tank to store a runoff event. Two novel approaches were implemented to improve the ability of RWH systems to serve as both water-conservation practices and stormwater-management practices: an active release technology and a passive release technology. Two locations in Craven County, North Carolina, had RWH systems installed to capture roof runoff and store it for nonpotable uses. One system was equipped with the passive release mechanism, which divided the storage tank into a detention storage volume that was slowly drained between storm events, and a retention storage volume, which was retained for harvesting. The other system included an active release mechanism that automatically released harvested water based on real-time forecasted precipitation and current RWH system conditions. Despite minimal usage, both systems provided substantial stormwater mitigation. The passive release system averaged 82 and 90% volume and peak flow reductions, respectively, while the active release system reduced volumes and peak flows by an average of 91 and 93%, respectively. Both of these mechanisms exhibit great promise in revolutionizing rainwater harvesting system use to meet both water-conservation and stormwater-management goals.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund for funding this project (CWMTF Project No. 2008-1004). Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. staff (specifically Marcus Quigley, Joe Jeray, Alex Bedig, and Jordy Wolfand) contributed invaluable assistance and expertise to the active release mechanism. Mitch Woodward, Ryan Winston, Shawn Kennedy and Alysondria Campos of North Carolina State University’s Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department aided in the construction and monitoring of the two rainwater harvesting systems. Gratitude is also extended to the property owners, the NCDOT and Tryon Palace, for their collaboration and contributions throughout the project.
References
Ahmed, W., Gardner, T., and Toze, S. (2011). “Microbiological quality of roof-harvested rainwater and health risks: A review.” J Environ. Qual., 40(1), 13–21.
Azure [Computer software]. Microsoft, Redmond, WA.
Basinger, M., Montalto, F., and Lall, U. (2010). “A rainwater harvesting system reliability model based on nonparametric stochastic rainfall generator.” J. Hydrol., 392(3–4), 105–118.
Brodie, I. M. (2008). “Hydrological analysis of single and dual storage systems for stormwater harvesting.” Water Sci. Technol., 58(5), 1039–1046.
Burns, M. J., Fletcher, T. D., Duncan, H. P., Hatt, B. E., Ladson, A. R., and Walsh, C. J. (2015). “The performance of rainwater tanks for stormwater retention and water supply at the household scale: An empirical study.” Hydrol. Processes, 29(1), 152–160.
DeBusk, K. M. (2013). “Rainwater harvesting: Integrating water conservation and stormwater management.” Graduate School of North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC.
DeBusk, K. M., Hunt, W. F., and Wright, J. D. (2013). “Characterization of rainwater harvesting utilization in humid regions of the United States.” J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc., 49(6), 1398–1411.
Dietz, M. E., and Clausen, J. C. (2005). “Field evaluation of rain garden flow and pollutant treatment.” Water Air Soil Pollut., 167(1–4), 123–138.
Dirckx, G., Schütze, M., Kroll, S., Thoeye, Ch., De Gueldre, G., and Van De Steene, B. (2011). “Cost-efficiency of RTC for CSO impact mitigation.” Urban Water J., 8(6), 367–377.
Eroksuz, E., and Rahman, A. (2010). “Rainwater tanks in multi-unit buildings: A case study for three Australian cities.” Resour. Conserv. Recycl., 54(12), 1449–1452.
Farreny, R., Morales-Pinzón, T., Guisasola, A., Tayà, C., Rieradevall, J., and Gabarrell, X. (2011). “Roof selection for rainwater harvesting: Quantity and quality assessments in Spain.” Water Res., 45(10), 3245–3254.
Fewkes, A., and Warm, P. (2000). “Method of modelling the performance of rainwater collection systems in the United Kingdom.” Build. Serv. Eng. Res. Technol., 21(4), 257–265.
Flowlink version 5 [Computer software]. Teledyne ISCO, Lincoln, NE.
Ghisi, E., Bressan, D. L., and Martini, M. (2007). “Rainwater tank capacity and potential for potable water savings by using rainwater in the residential sector of southeastern Brazil.” Build. Environ., 42(4), 1654–1666.
Guo, Y., and Baetz, B. W. (2007). “Sizing of rainwater storage units for green building applications.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 197–205.
Haan, C. T., Barfield, B. J., and Hayes, J. C. (1994). Design hydrology and sedimentology for small catchments, Academic Press, New York.
Herrmann, T., and Schmida, U. (1999). “Rainwater utilisation in Germany: Efficiency, dimensioning, hydraulic and environmental aspects.” Urban Water J., 1(4), 307–316.
Jones, M. P., and Hunt, W. F. (2010). “Performance of rainwater harvesting systems in the southeastern United States.” Resour. Conserv. Recycl., 54(10), 623–629.
Kim, J., and Furumai, H. (2012). “Assessment of rainwater availability by building type and water use through GIS-based scenario analysis.” Water Resour. Manage., 26(6), 1499–1511.
Li, Z., Boyle, F., and Reynolds, A. (2010). “Rainwater harvesting and greywater treatment systems for domestic application in Ireland.” Desalination, 260(1-3), 1–8.
Liaw, C., and Tsai, Y. (2004). “Optimum storage volume of rooftop rain water harvesting systems for domestic use.” J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc., 40(4), 901–912.
Mitchell, V. G., McCarthy, D. T., Deletic, A., and Fletcher, T. D. (2008). “Urban stormwater harvesting—Sensitivity of a storage behaviour model.” Environ. Modell. Software, 23(6), 782–793.
Mun, J. S., and Han, M. Y. (2012). “Design and operational parameters of a rooftop rainwater harvesting system: Definition, sensitivity and verification.” J. Environ. Manage., 93(1), 147–153.
NCDENR (North Carolina Department of the Environment and Natural Resources). (2007). Stormwater best management practices manual, Raleigh, NC.
Palla, A., Gnecco, I., and Lanza, L. G. (2011). “Non-dimensional design parameters and performance assessment of rainwater harvesting systems.” J. Hydrol., 401(1–2), 65–76.
Reidy, P. C. (2010). “Integrating rainwater harvesting for innovative stormwater control.” Proc., World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, ASCE, Reston, VA.
SCO (State Climate Office of North Carolina). (2013). “State Climate Office of North Carolina.” 〈http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/〉 (Apr. 4, 2013).
Stinson, M. K., and Vitasovic, C. Z. (2006). “Real time control of sewers: US EPA manual.” Proc., World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, ASCE, Reston, VA.
Ward, S., Memon, F. A., and Butler, D. (2010). “Rainwater harvesting: Model-based design evaluation.” Water Sci. Technol., 61(1), 85–96.
Zhang, D., Gersberg, R. M., Wilhelm, C., and Voigt, M. (2009a). “Decentralized water management: Rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse in an urban area of Beijing, China.” Urban Water J., 6(5), 375–385.
Zhang, Y., Chen, D., Chen, L., and Ashbolt, S. (2009b). “Potential for rainwater use in high-rise buildings in Australian cities.” J. Environ. Manage., 91(1), 222–226.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 17, 2015
Accepted: Dec 8, 2015
Published online: Mar 10, 2016
Published in print: Aug 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Aug 10, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.