Rain Barrels Research Articles

Integrated urban water management with micro storages developed as an IoT-based solution – The smart rain barrel

Low cost sensors are emerging alongside innovative data transfer technologies, allowing the integration of smart solutions for the decentralisation of water infrastructure. In this work, the smart rain barrel (SRB) concept is introduced as an IoT-based solution for advanced rainwater harvesting. The SRB consists of a rain barrel extended by a discharge valve, which is centrally controlled. This concept offers (1) individual control of each implemented SRB with its incorporation into the integrated water system management and (2) a simple large-scale implementation of additional storage units as an alternative to future expansion of existing infrastructure. The open-source software “Smartin” is developed by hypothetically retrofitting an Alpine municipality with SRBs to evaluate the effects of the latter on the urban water infrastructure. Compared to uncontrolled rain barrels, a simple coordinated control strategy already clearly improves the performance of the integrated system by reducing combined sewer overflow and addressing drinking water demand.

Understanding the public's behavior in adopting green stormwater infrastructure

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is promoted to sustainably manage stormwater in the United States. Aside from mitigating floods, it provides other ecosystem services such as improved water quality, scenic beauty, and an increase in property values of surrounding houses, among others. Because of the importance of community participation in the success of GSI, we investigated the factors affecting the household's intention to adopt GSI practices on their properties. We sent out an online survey to the coastal residents from eight coastal counties of South Carolina. The final samples included 1,031 residents. Using generalized ordered logit models (GOLM), we assessed the factors affecting their level of intention to adopt three common GSI practices— rain gardens, rooftop disconnection, and rain barrels. We also applied logit regression to identify the determinants of their intention to adopt one or more GSI practices. Household characteristics such as age, house ownership, property flooding history, and perception of flooding impacts and stormwater management were found to be significant in most of the models. On the other hand, only a few adoption barriers and ES became significant across the models. The findings of this study could help stormwater professionals in encouraging residents to participate in onsite stormwater management.

Simulation and evaluation of low-impact development practices in university construction: A case study of Anhui University of Science and Technology

The development of “sponge cities” is a new trend in Chinese urban construction that can effectively alleviate urban flood disasters, reduce non-point-source pollution, and promote the recycling of rainwater resources. Constructing a sponge city generally includes the application of low-impact development (LID) practices. In this study, some different LID practices (vegetative swales, sunken green spaces, rain barrels and combined methods) were applied on Anhui University of Science and Technology (AUST) for various rainfall return periods. A framework for simulating LID practices at AUST was created, and the impacts of LID practices on water quantity were simulated with the SWMM model. In the meantime, the cost-effectiveness of different LID facilities was quantified and analyzed in the runoff mitigation and pollutant removal. The results indicate that LID practices can effectively reduce runoff and peak flow and delay peak times. Overall, the constructions of sunken green spaces and combined LID measures greatly reduced peak flow, with a reduction rate >35%. Furthermore, vegetative swales, sunken green spaces, and combined LID practices were all able to effectively remove pollutants by treating and reducing runoff. We found that the cost per unit was the lowest for vegetative swales, making to the most cost-effective and an ideal LID structure for comprehensively removing non-point-source pollutants. Meanwhile, sunken green spaces were the most effective means of pollution control. Thus, our findings can provide guidance for improving the environmental conditions and impacts of university towns. In the construction of such towns in the future, LID practices should be implemented, with preference given to vegetative swales. In areas for which there is a need for high runoff and pollution control, the use of sunken green spaces should be considered.

Analysis of Runoff According to Application of SWMM-LID Element Technology (II): Parameter Uncertainty Analysis

This study quantitatively analyzed the degree of uncertainty associated with runoff based on the sensitivity analysis of runoff parameters using Low Impact Development (LID) element technology of study (I). Uncertainty was analyzed for parameter uncertainty, uncertainty of runoff, and uncertainty about the degree of parameter and runoff. Parameter uncertainty indices showed lower uncertainty indices as a whole and uncertainty indices of peak runoff were higher than that of total runoff in runoff uncertainty. The reason for this is that the LID element technology itself is intended to store low-frequency small-scale rainfall, so that the uncertainty index of peak rainfall seems to be highly uncertain. As a result of the analysis of uncertainty degree associated with runoff, it was found that the uncertainty of storage depth of bio retention cell and rain garden was low, while the heaviness parameters of rain barrel had the highest uncertainty index. In future experiments and research, it is necessary to modify the parameter range suitable for Korea, which will be helpful for urban development, reduction of nonpoint source pollution, and designing of low frequency rainfall storage facilities.

Not all SuDS are created equal: Impact of different approaches on combined sewer overflows

Sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) help in stormwater management by reducing runoff volume, increasing runoff concentration time and thereby improving the drainage system capacity. This study investigated the potential and cost-effectiveness of SuDS in reducing combined sewer overflows (CSOs). We simulated the performance of four SuDS techniques (bioretention cell, permeable pavement, rain barrel and green roof) at incremental levels of spatial coverage for a small urban catchment with a combined sewer system. We also used an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) considering end-point CSO, land use, imperviousness, slope and elevation criteria to identify priority areas for SuDS deployment. Results showed that CSO volume attenuation ranged a maximum of 50–99% for the catchment, depending on the deployment strategy and underlying mechanisms of each technology. We also found that deployment of SuDS in AHP-selected sub-catchments improved CSO reduction only for rain barrels and green roofs, but not for bioretention cells and permeable pavements. SuDS were also a cost-effective retrofit option: for a 40% volume reduction, the SuDS cost, at most, 25% of the equivalent cost required for a large CSO tank. Outcomes of this study demonstrate the efficacy of SuDS in controlling CSOs, adding yet another tangible benefit to their increasingly recognised multi-functionality.

Assessment of a rain barrel sharing network in Korea using storage-reliability-yield relationship

Assessment of a rain barrel sharing network in Korea using storage-reliability-yield relationship

Assessment of green infrastructure performance through an urban resilience lens

Green infrastructure (GI) is widely recognized for reducing risk of flooding, improving water quality, and harvesting stormwater for potential future use. GI can be an important part of a strategy used in urban planning to enhance sustainable development and urban resilience. However, existing literature lacks a comprehensive assessment framework to evaluate GI performance in terms of promoting ecosystem functions and services for social-ecological system resilience. We propose a robust indicator set consisting of quantitative and qualitative measurements for a scenario-based planning support system to assess the capacity of urban resilience. Green Infrastructure in Urban Resilience Planning Support System (GIUR-PSS) supports decision-making for GI planning through scenario comparisons with the urban resilience capacity index. To demonstrate GIUR-PSS, we developed five scenarios for the Congress Run sub-watershed (Mill Creek watershed, Ohio, USA) to test common types of GI (rain barrels, rain gardens, detention basins, porous pavement, and open space). Results show the open space scenario achieves the overall highest performance (GI Urban Resilience Index = 4.27/5). To implement the open space scenario in our urban demonstration site, suitable vacant lots could be converted to greenspace (e.g., forest, detention basins, and low-impact recreation areas). GIUR-PSS is easy to replicate, customize, and apply to cities of different sizes to assess environmental, economic, and social benefits provided by different types of GI installations.

Zero-Valent Iron Sand Filtration Can Reduce Human and Plant Pathogenic Bacteria While Increasing Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria in Reclaimed Water

The increasing use of reclaimed water for irrigation in areas lacking access to advanced wastewater treatment and reclaimed water distribution systems calls for an examination of irrigation-site-based treatment technologies that can improve the quality of this alternative water source. To address this need, we investigated the impact of zero-valent iron (ZVI)-sand filtration on the bacterial community structure and functional potential of conventionally treated reclaimed water utilized in downstream applications. Over a two-month period, reclaimed water was collected from a tertiary wastewater treatment plant in the Mid-Atlantic, U.S. and trucked to our greenhouse facility. The water was stored in rain barrels and then filtered through one ZVI-sand filter every five days. Filtrate was then subjected to enumeration, phylotyping, shiga toxin screening and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Escherichia coli. Aliquots of filtrate were also DNA extracted, and purified DNA was subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic shotgun sequencing. The genera Dechloromonas, Desulfotomaculum, Leptonema and Thermomonas, which contain denitrifying and sulfate reducing species, commonly used in bioremediation, and known to increase the inherent reactivity of ZVI, were significantly more relatively abundant in ZVI-sand filtered reclaimed water compared to reclaimed water. The concentration of E. coli in ZVI-sand filtered reclaimed water was significantly lower compared to that of reclaimed water, and cefoxitin- and tetracycline-resistant E. coli were undetectable after ZVI-sand filtration. ZVI-sand filtration reduced the occurrence of human as well as plant pathogenic genera (Aeromonas, Mycobacterium, Shewanella, Acidovorax, Agrobacterium, Clavibacter) but increased the proportion of Azospira, a nitrogen fixing bacterial genera, in the microbial community. Our exploratory functional analysis showed a modest non-significant increase in the proportion of open reading frames for genes associated with iron uptake, oxidative stress, as well as defense and repair mechanisms after ZVI-sand filtration. These data indicate an iron rich environment in the filter causing an oxidative stress response by the bacterial community present in the reclaimed water. Our findings demonstrate that ZVI-sand filtration effectively filters conventionally treated reclaimed water. Longer-term, field-based studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the filter in agricultural settings and inform the development of future agricultural water reuse regulations.

On how rainfall characteristics affect the sizing of rain barrels in Slovakia

Study regionThe study area (Slovakia) is to a great extent a part of the Carpathian mountainous system, where lowlands dominate the southwest and southeast of the region and are part of the Pannonian basin. Study focusRainwater harvesting can reduce vulnerability of urban areas to climate change by storing water for rainless periods and by reducing surface runoff. The efficiency and reliability of water harvesting systems depends on the local climate. Analysing rainfall characteristics is therefore essential for a proper sizing of any rainwater collecting project. A total of 84 rainfall records from climatologically distinct regions of Slovakia were separated into statistically independent episodes to derive event-based statistical characteristics. New hydrological insights for the regionA considerable spatial and seasonal variability has been observed in the statistics of rainfall events. Inter-event times decrease with elevation, whereas event volume and annual incidence of rainfall events increase with elevation. The applicability of the derived rainfall statistics was illustrated by simulations for a typical residential house using the analytical probabilistic approach. Empirical relationships between tank size and site elevation have been a developed to estimate tank sizes for un-gauged locations. The simulations show that rain barrels in the southern parts of Slovakia require larger storage capacities than those located in the mountainous regions. The presented annual and seasonal estimates of rainfall characteristics are published for the first time.

Comparative study of different LID technologies for drainage and protection of atmospheric stormwater quality in urban areas

Frequent floods and deterioration of drained water quality are the main problems in rapidly developing urban zones, mostly because urbanization reduces the areas with natural ground that can absorb stormwater and therefore prevent floods and pollution. In order to have a solution which can solve these problems and which could be acceptable for the nature and people, decentralized drainage systems were developed and applied. The primary goal of decentralized systems is to improve infiltration, evapotranspiration, and reuse of stormwater. This study presents the analysis of three variant solutions for the management of atmospheric stormwater. Analyzed solutions are based on the classical sewage system and on low impact development (LID) techniques applied in urban areas (Kucevo, Serbia). The main aim of this analysis was to define the pilot procedure to reduce pollutants and quantity of drained atmospheric water and using stormwater management, because the Pek River is one of the Danube tributaries. After the analysis of all solutions, the third variant solution based only on the LID techniques (vegetative swales, infiltration trenches, rain barrels, and bio-retention cells) gave the best results. According to simulation results, the proposed techniques in the third solution totally remove all pollutants from stormwater and stormwater surplus.

Towards urban resilience through Sustainable Drainage Systems: A multi-objective optimisation problem

The necessity of incorporating a resilience-informed approach into urban planning and its decision-making is felt now more than any time previously, particularly in low and middle income countries. In order to achieve a successful transition to sustainable, resilient and cost-effective cities, there is a growing attention given to more effective integration of nature-based solutions, such as Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), with other urban components. The experience of SuDS integration with urban planning, in developed cities, has proven to be an effective strategy with a wide range of advantages and lower costs. The effective design and implementation of SuDS requires a multi-objective approach by which all four pillars of SuDS design (i.e., water quality, water quantity, amenity and biodiversity) are considered in connection to other urban, social, and economic aspects and constraints. This study develops a resilience-driven multi-objective optimisation model aiming to provide a Pareto-front of optimised solutions for effective incorporation of SuDS into (peri)urban planning, applied to a case study in Brazil. This model adopts the SuDS's two pillars of water quality and water quantity as the optimisation objectives with its level of spatial distribution as decision variables. Also, an improved quality of life index (iQoL) is developed to re-evaluate the optimal engineering solutions to encompass the amenity and biodiversity pillars of SuDS. Rain barrels, green roofs, bio-retention tanks, vegetation grass swales and permeable pavements are the suitable SuDS options identified in this study. The findings show that the most resilient solutions are costly but this does not guarantee higher iQoL values. Bio-retention tanks and grass swales play effective roles in promotion of water quality resilience but this comes with considerable increase in costs. Permeable pavements and green roofs are effective strategies when flood resilience is a priority. Rain barrel is a preferred solution due to the dominance of residential areas in the study area and the lower cost of this option.

An integrated framework to select resilient and sustainable sponge city design schemes for robust decision making

To mitigate the impacts of rapid urbanization and climate change on hydrology and water quality, the new concept of urban stormwater management, sponge city, has been proposed to increase the city’s resilience. Although 30 cities in China have been chosen to implement sponge city construction, there is a lack of a quantitative evaluation method to help decision makers select resilience and sustainability schemes. This paper proposes a new integrated framework in selecting the resilient and sustainable sponge city design schemes. The developed framework consists of the following 10 indicators: resilience, flood volume, flood duration time, hydraulic performance index, annual runoff volume control, rainfall usage, pollution control, social acceptability, greenhouse gas emission, and cost. The Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was used to simulate the rainfall-runoff process to calculate the indicators. The multi-criteria analysis methods of the improved AHP were used to calculate the weights of indictors, while the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was used to rank the design schemes. The proposed framework was then applied to Xining, China, as a case study. The performances of three sponge city design schemes (S1, S2, and S3) with different sponge city construction areas and different low impact development (LID) controls were analyzed for the LID construction project. The results identified S1 as the best scheme where 50% permeable pavement and 30% rain barrel are implemented in residential areas. In contrast, S3 had the lowest scores, with the largest LID construction area. This integrated framework will assist policy-makers in the selection of optimal sponge city design schemes.

Modeling and investigating the effect of the LID methods on collection network of urban runoff using the SWMM model (case study: Shahrekord City)

In recent decades, the accumulation of residential regions has increased due to the expansion of urbanization. This has led to an increase in the impermeable areas and, thus, increasing surface runoff in the cities. Therefore, it is necessary to control surface runoff using Low Impact Development (LID) methods in cities. In this research, using the hydraulic-hydrological SWMM model, the collection network of surface runoff of Shahrekord city was simulated in 2, 5, and 10 years return periods. The calibration of the model was performed in two rainfall events. Afterward, validation was performed using sensitivity analysis with calibrated values, which NSE, RMSE, and% BIAS indices showed good simulation accuracy. After this stage, three methods of the green roof, permeable pavement, and rain barrels were located in 14 selected sub-catchments of Shahrekord. The results of these methods on the volume and peak runoff of selected sub-catchment showed that green roof, permeable pavement, and rain barrels, respectively, reduce the volume and discharge peak runoff by 46, 21, and 25%, on average. Moreover, increasing the rainfall period would increase the effectiveness of using these methods. Also, the results of investigating the value of the discharge and volume of runoff within the drainage canals, the capacity of the canals, and downstream of selected sub-catchment, indicated the reduction of these values due to the application of LID methods. As a result, it was concluded that the effect of using a green roof was greater than the others.

Selection of best stormwater management alternative based on storm control measures (SCM) efficiency indices

Abstract Overcoming conventional stormwater management problems and finding appropriate control methods for safely discharging excess runoff from impervious areas is an essential part of any sustainable urban planning. This study aims to analyze the performance of different storm control measures (SCMs) applied to Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) campus situated in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, which is a highly urbanized catchment. Different SCMs were designed for the VIT campus based on low impact development (LID) options available in stormwater management model (SWMM) software. The most suitable SCM was selected based on its ability to match pre-urbanized hydrographs as close as possible. The SCM location was identified by a localized survey, in such a way that there is least disturbance to the existing storm sewer network. The percentage reduction of peak flow under each proposed SCM were obtained as follows: bio-retention (19.8%), rain garden (18.69%), green roof (49.17%), infiltration trench (20.02%), permeable pavement (22.6%), rain barrel (12.95%), rooftop-disconnection (10.79%) and vegetative swales (17.23%). The results indicated that Option 9 (combination of permeable pavement and bioretention) and Option 10 (permeable pavement and infiltration trench) were better at reducing peak runoff and increasing infiltration. The peak runoff reduction for Options 9 and 10 were observed to be 32.05 and 39.81%, whereas the percentage increase in infiltration was observed to be 25.7 and 29.45% respectively.

RAINWATER HARVESTING FOR FLOOD PEAK REDUCTION IN WAY AWI CATCHMENT, INDONESIA

This study is motivated by floodings which occur frequently in Jagabaya village, Way Awi catchment, Bandar Lampung city, Indonesia. In addition to the intensity of rainfall, this area is considered as an urban area with intense housing and insufficient drainage capacity during heavy rain. This study aims to analyze flood peak reduction by simulating the application of rain barrels for each house. The volume of rain barrels used in the simulation is 0.5 to 5 m3. An Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curve is generated using short-duration rainfall data (i.e. 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120, 180, 360 and 720 minutes) recorded from Panjang Meteorological Bureau, Lampung. The rational method, a simple rainfall-runoff model, is used to calculate runoff generated both from catchment and rooftop. The result shows that the application of rain barrels may reduce flood peak up to 28% for 2 year return period of flood, while for 100 year return period of flood, the reduction may reach 13.64%. From this study, it can be concluded that rainwater harvesting utilizing rain barrel is significant in reducing flood peak. Furthermore, this result can be used to persuade both the society as well as the local government to do such flood mitigation in this densely populated urban area

Possibilities of urban flood reduction through distributed-scale rainwater harvesting

Urban flooding in Chittagong City usually occurs during the monsoon season and a rainwater harvesting (RWH) system can be used as a remedial measure. This study examines the feasibility of rain barrel RWH system at a distributed scale within an urbanized area located in the northwestern part of Chittagong City that experiences flash flooding on a regular basis. For flood modeling, the storm water management model (SWMM) was employed with rain barrel low-impact development (LID) as a flood reduction measure. The Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) inundation model was coupled with SWMM to observe the detailed and spatial extent of flood reduction. Compared to SWMM simulated floods, the simulated inundation depth using remote sensing data and the HEC-RAS showed a reasonable match, i.e., the correlation coefficients were found to be 0.70 and 0.98, respectively. Finally, using LID, i.e., RWH, a reduction of 28.66% could be achieved for reducing flood extent. Moreover, the study showed that 10%–60% imperviousness of the subcatchment area can yield a monthly RWH potential of 0.04–0.45 m3 from a square meter of rooftop area. The model can be used for necessary decision making for flood reduction and to establish a distributed RWH system in the study area.

Analyzing Evidence of Sustainable Urban Water Management Systems: A Review through the Lenses of Sociotechnical Transitions

Sustainability concerns and multiple socio-environmental pressures have necessitated a shift towards Sustainable Urban Water Management (SUWM) systems. Viewing SUWM systems as sociotechnical, this paper departs from eight factors previously identified by transition research: Pressures, Context, Purposes, Actors, Instruments, Processes, Outputs, and Outcomes as a methodological framework for a structured review of 100 articles. The study seeks to analyze empirical cases of planning and implementing SUWM systems worldwide. A wide range of public actors—driven by social and environmental factors rather than by economic pressures—have initiated SUWM projects so as to locally fulfill defined social and environmental purposes. We provide evidence on the emergence of new actors, such as experts, users, and private developers, as well as on the diverse and innovative technical and societal instruments used to promote and implement SUWM systems. We also explore their contexts and institutional capacity to deal with pressures and to mobilize significant financial and human resources, which is in itself vital for the transition to SUWM. Planned or implemented SUWM outputs are divided into green (wet ponds, raingardens, and green roofs) and gray (rain barrels and porous pavements) measures. The outcomes of SUWM projects—in terms of societal and technical learning, and their institutional uptakes—are often implicit or lacking, which seemingly reduces the rate of desirable change.

LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT MODELING TO MANAGE URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF: CASE STUDY OF GORZÓW WIELKOPOLSK

Uncontrolled urbanization causes local flooding and deterioration of the water quality of receivers as a result of an increase in peak flow rate and increased washing out of contaminants from the catchment area. Currently, classic storage tanks are most often used. An alternative solution may be the use of Low Impact Development (LID), i.e. the preservation and restoration of natural landscape elements, minimizing the imperviousness of the catchment in the form of rain barrels, permeable walkways or bio-retention reservoirs. The comparison of both techniques was carried out using the Environmental Protection Agency Storm Water Management Model (EPA SWMM). The influence of several solutions on a selected urbanized catchment located in Gorzów Wielkopolski was tested.

Missing conceptual links in the international environmental policy debate: power, time and transfer

ABSTRACTOver the past 20 years, scholars have examined the role policy transfer has had on the development of environmental policies across the globe. The literature in this area has discussed everything from the movement of cap-and-trade policies to the movement of rain barrels. As the name ‘policy transfer’ implies, studies tend to focus on the successful movement of a policy or program. Part of the reason for this focus is that studies tend to neglect the role power and time play in the transfer process. To begin addressing this, the concepts of power most commonly associated with the three faces of power debate and ideas of political time, policy time and ‘chronological’ time (i.e. timing, tempo, time) can help explain a range of environmental transfers (or non-transfers) better than the existing literature.

Detailed Quantification of the Reduction Effect of Roof Runoff by Low Impact Development Practices

Low impact development (LID) has been widely applied to mitigate urban rainwater problems since the 1990s. However, the effect of LID practices has seldom been evaluated in detail. In this study, the effect of individual and combined LID practices on the reduction of roof runoff are specifically quantified considering the hydrological relationship between LID at the building scale and the campus scale at Beijing Normal University (BNU). The results show that individual and combined LID practices effectively reduce roof runoff for all types of rainfall and for rainfall with return periods from 0.5 to 50 years at the building scale. Combination scenarios maintain good performance with fewer areas of composed LID. Most values for the effect of combination scenarios are between the effects of composed LID. To achieve the highest cost efficiency, low elevation greenbelts should be the first choice, and green roofs should only be selected when low elevation greenbelts and rain barrels cannot be implemented. At the campus scale, individual and combined LID practices effectively reduce the outflow from and the overflow in the campus and combination scenarios have the best reduction performance. This study provides an important reference for urban water management and LID related decision making.