Abstract
ABSTRACT Giving some specific precipitation regimes and technical design parameters, urban Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RWHS) may represent an alternative source to drinking water supply system promoting its conservation and rational use. The use of RWHS requires the definition of generic and simplified method for sizing RWHS accumulation tanks, which is has being considered the most expensive component of the system. Additionally, several methods have being used to define reservoir volumes leading to a wide variety of final reservoir volumes many of them over estimated. The main objective of this article is to present a new methodology to define RWHS reservoir volumes considering technical and economic viabilities of the systems. The proposed methodology was incorporated into a Decision Support System (DSS), named SARA. The method provides an alternative way to define smaller RWHS reservoir volumes once it accepts lower levels of reliabilities giving that the RWHS is considered a complimentary system, better suited for urban areas. RWHS design diagrams are built as a result of the methodology in an attempt to offer a tool to initial and rapid design of reservoir volumes for RWSH. The method was applied to different urban areas in Brazil.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2015), almost 2,4 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitary services and more than 663 million people do not have access to water in appropriate conditions
Two diagrams were developed per chosen city, one constructed from simulations that considered only the technical performance criterion to indicate the optimal volume and another one constructed from simulations that considered the combination of the technical and economic performance criterions to determine the preliminary design of the reservoir
The reason for creating two diagrams for each city is to offer users a possibility to promote preliminary design of the reservoirs, having as criterion only the efficiency indicator of water saving, in cases where the construction method of the Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RWHS)’ accumulation reservoir is not the same adopted in this work
Summary
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2015), almost 2,4 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitary services and more than 663 million people do not have access to water in appropriate conditions. More than half of the world population lives in urban areas where the population growth rates and migration impose great stress on the already precarious sanitary systems. This scenario is even worse in regions that presents low levels of precipitation or faces problems of water quality pollution (in surface or underground water resources). According to Thackray; Cocker and Archibald (1978), DeOreo and Mayer (1999), Tomaz (2003), Ghisi and Ferreira (2006), Ghisi and Oliveira (2007) the urban water consumption in Brazil and in other countries varies with climate, social, economic and cultural aspects. It is verified that non potable demands represent between 33,8% and 63,5% of the total water supply in a residence (Tomaz, 2003) which represent a great opportunity to the definition of programs and alternatives of rational water use in urban systems
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