CE 331

Environmental Engineering I

Tajkia Syeed Tofa

Assistant Professor
Department Of Civil
Engineering, MIST
Topic: Rainwater Harvesting (RWH)
 Why RWH?
RWH is a simple process or technology that
collects and stores rainwater for human use
 Why RWH?

• RWH is the most promising alternative supply of freshwater

• RWH technology used for collecting and storing rain water from
rooftops, land surface or catchment/watershed using various
techniques such as tanks, dams or recharge to aquifer
Why RWH?

 To meet ever increasing demand of water

 To supply water in problem areas
 To augment the groundwater storage and control
decline of water levels
 To avoid flooding of roads
 To supplement domestic water requirement during
summer, draughts etc.
 To use in less quality demanding areas such as toilet
flushing, gardening, car washing, terrace cleaning
etc.
Basic Components of a Rooftop
RWH System

1. Precipitation
2. A collection area
3. A conveyance system
consisting of pipes and
gutters
4. A storage facility
5. A delivery system
consisting of a tap or a
pump
Elements of RWHS (Urban Context)
 How much water can be harvested?

Water harvesting potential = Rainfall (mm) x Collection efficiency Area

Example: Area of plot = 100 sq. m. Height of the rainfall = 0.6 m

Volume of rainfall over the plot = Area of plot x height of rainfall

Assuming that only 60 per cent of the total rainfall is effectively harvested

Volume of water harvested = 36,000 liters (60,000 liters x 0.6)

Practice Problem: A building of concrete roof area is 100
sqm and avg. annual rainfall is 900 mm. For 70%
efficiency, what will be harvested volume of rainfall in a
year?
 Runoff Coefficients, C
Type of Catchment Value (Pacey et al, 1989)

Roof Tiles 0.8 – 0.9

Corrugated Metal Sheet 0.7 – 0.8

Ground surface Concrete 0.6 – 0.8

Brick pavement 0.5 – 0.6

Untreated Ground Soil on slope less than 10% 0.0 – 0.3

Catchment
Rocky natural catchment 0.2 – 0.5
 Determining Catchment Area
For(BNBC, 2020)
flat surface, the catchment area is its plan area plus 50 per cent
of the adjoining vertical wall contributing rainwater accumulation
on the concerned catchment.
B

Example: A T1
ce

For the rainwater downpipe Wall W 1 M

Te
rr a

RDP3, the catchment area will F

C

be the terrace at levels 2 and 3 E

T
2 H

as well as 50 percent of the G

adjacent walls AFHM, GIJH and RD P2

J

MJLC. I
T
3 L
K
RDP1

RDP3
 Conveyance of Rainwater
Rainwater is typically conveyed to a storage tank or cistern in two ways:
1. A sloped roof typically drains to gutters and downspouts at the
outer edges(s) of the building envelope.
2. A flat or semiflat roof may use roof area drains that connect to
downspouts/ rainwater downpipes.
 First Flush Diversion
• First flush diversion, which involves discarding the initial, dirtiest flush of
runoff from a rainfall event, is one of the most commonly adopted and
effective means of improving stored water quality in rainwater harvesting
(RWH) systems.
• While the recommendation for including first-flush diversion is universal,
the diversion volume recommendation varies greatly.

Table: Recommended duration of first flush diversion for various regions in

Bangladesh (Ref: BNBC Draft)
Location time
Dhaka metropolitan area 20 min
Sylhet 15 min
Chittagong 15 min
Other urban areas 15 min
 First Flush Diversion Arrangements

A PVC standpipe with ball-valve first- flush diverter arrangement. As the

chamber fills, the ball floats up and seals on the seat, trapping first-flush water
and routing the balance of the water to the tank.
 First Flush Diversion

Corrugated metal tanks collect rainwater to be used for toilet flushing at Fowler
Drive School, Athens, Georgia
Storage System
 Storage Tank Location Options

Below ground floor Roof top location

Outside building
Intermediate level in highrise building
 Sizing of Tank: Demand side approach
The water demand during the dry season is estimated and the
cistern/tank is sized to store enough water to sustain the dry
season.

Size of storage tank, V = n × d × q

Where,
n = no. of water users
The dry period is a yearly
d = no. of dry days / scarcity period period of low rainfall
q = per capita demand
BNBC recommends the number of dry days/ scarcity periods to be
90 days for drinking, cooking, utensils cleansing, bathing and
ablution purposes; 210 days for other purposes.
 Sizing of Tank: Demand side approach
Problem: If the number of people in a family = 6 and per capita
consumption of water per day = 10 liters, determine the required
volume of the storage tank based on minimum requirements
assuming a 100 day dry-period.

Solution:
Tank volume = Total demand for dry period = 6 ×10 ×100= 6,000 liters
For Free board, add 10 per cent volume = 600 liters.
A storage of 6,600 liters (6.6 cum ) can be built
 Sizing of Tank: Supply side
approach
• If the total rainfall supply over the year is lower than the
yearly demand of water, supply side would govern.

• The demand has to be modified to utilize the limited amount

of water available.

• A mass curve method may be applied to arrive at the size of the

tank necessary to meet this demand if the monthly average
rainfall data is available.
 Sizing of Tank: Supply side approach
Problem: For the medical dispensary, the following data is available:
• Demand: Number of staff: 7, Staff consumption: 45 litres per
day; Patients: 40, Patient consumption : 10 litres per day
• Supply: Roof area: 190m2, Runoff coefficient: 0.9, Average
annual rainfall: 1056 mm per year The distribution of rainfall:

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Rainfall 114 101 136 214 75 3 5 15 47 88 124 134

(mm)

Determine the size of the rainwater storage tank for this facility
 Sizing of Tank: Supply side approach
Solution:
Step 1: Total demand: 7×45 + 40×10
= 715 litres per day or 21.75 m3/ mean month

Step 2: Annual available water (assuming all is collected)

= 190 × 1.056 × 0.9 = 180.58 m3/year
Daily available water = 180.58 / 365
= 0.4947 m3/d or 494.7 lpd or 15.05 m3 /mean month
 So, if we want to supply water all the year to meet the needs of the
dispensary, the demand cannot exceed 494.7 litres/day.

 The expected demand cannot be met by the available harvested water.

Therefore the tank has to be sized based on a compromised demand of
15.05 m3/mean month
 C=0.9
Spreadsheet calculation A = 190 m2
Solution (continued):
C*h*A
Cumulative
Rainfall rainfall Cumulative Difference
Rainfall, h harvested Demand (based demand between
Month (mm) harvested on total
(cubic (cubic (cubic column 4
metres) utilisation) metres) and 6
metres)

Oct 88 15.05 15.05 15.05 15.05 0.00

Nov 124 21.20 36.25 15.05 30.10 6.16
Dec 134 22.91 59.17 15.05 45.14 14.02
Jan 114 19.49 78.66 15.05 60.19 18.47
Feb 101 17.27 95.93 15.05 75.24 20.69
Mar 136 23.26 15.05 90.29 28.90
119.19
Apr 214 36.59 155.78 15.05 105.34 50.45
May 75 12.83 168.61 15.05 120.38 48.22
Jun 3 0.51 169.12 15.05 135.43 33.69
Jul 5 0.86 169.97 15.05 150.48 19.49
Aug 15 2.57 172.54 15.05 165.53 7.01
Sep 47 8.04 180.58 15.05 180.58 0.00
Totals 180.58 180.58
 Supply side approach
The maximum surplus occurs in April with a storage requirement of 50.45
cubic metres. All this water will have to be stored to cover the shortfall
during the dry period.
Contamination Pathway of RWHS
Factors Affecting RW Quality
How to manage water quality of RW?

Potential intervention options for rainwater collection systems

include

• Improved design features: positioning of inlet, altering

the location of collection systems
• Pre-storage measures: debris screens and filters and first-
flush diversion
• Post storage measures: post-storage filtration and
disinfection