Water Supply and Stormwater Management Benefits of Residential Rainwater Harvesting in U.S. Cities

This article presents an analysis of the projected performance of urban residential rainwater harvesting systems in the United States (U.S.). The objectives are to quantify for 23 cities in seven climatic regions (1) water supply provided from rainwater harvested at a residential parcel and (2) stor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Water Resources Association 2013-08, Vol.49 (4), p.810-824
Main Authors: Steffen, Jennifer, Jensen, Mark, Pomeroy, Christine A., Burian, Steven J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
best management practice
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Environmental protection
Exact sciences and technology
Harvesting
Hydrology. Hydrogeology
Management
Marine
Mountains
Parcels
Pollution, environment geology
Rain
rainwater harvesting
Receiving
Residential
Runoff
Simulation
Stormwater
stormwater management
sustainability
Urban areas
Water resources
Water supply
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Summary:This article presents an analysis of the projected performance of urban residential rainwater harvesting systems in the United States (U.S.). The objectives are to quantify for 23 cities in seven climatic regions (1) water supply provided from rainwater harvested at a residential parcel and (2) stormwater runoff reduction from a residential drainage catchment. Water‐saving efficiency is determined using a water‐balance approach applied at a daily time step for a range of rainwater cistern sizes. The results show that performance is a function of cistern size and climatic pattern. A single rain barrel (190 l [50 gal]) installed at a residential parcel is able to provide approximately 50% water‐saving efficiency for the nonpotable indoor water demand scenario in cities of the East Coast, Southeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest, but
ISSN:1093-474X
1752-1688
DOI:10.1111/jawr.12038