Search

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems can be used to produce drinking water in rural communities, particularly in developing countries that lack a clean drinking water supply. Most previous research has focused on the application of RWH systems for individual urban households. This paper develops a yield-after-spillage water balance model (WBM) which can calculate the reliability, annual drinking water production (ADWP) and benefit–cost ratio (BCR) of a community-scale RWH system for rural drinking water supply. We consider multiple scenarios regarding community aspects, including 150–1000 users, 70–4800 kL rainwater storage, 20–50 L/capita/day (LCD) drinking water usage levels, local rainfall regimes and economic parameters of Australia (developed country) and Vietnam (developing country). The WBM analysis shows a strong correlation between water demand and water supply with 90% system reliability, which allows both Australian and Vietnamese systems to achieve the similar capability of ADWP and economic values of the produced drinking water. However, the cost of the Vietnamese system is higher due to the requirement of larger rainwater storage due to larger household size and lower rainfall in the dry season, which reduces the BCR compared to the Australian systems. It is found that the RWH systems can be feasibly implemented at the water price of 0.01 AUD/L for all the Vietnamese scenarios and for some Australian scenarios with drinking water demand over 6 kL/day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a multi-criteria decision analysis approach based on geographic information system (GIS) to identify suitable sites for rainwater harvesting (RWH) structures (such as farm dam, check dam and contour bund) to meet irrigation demand in Greater Western Sydney region, New South Wales, Australia. Data on satellite image, soil, climate, and digital elevation model (DEM) were stored in GIS layers and merged to create a ranking system, which were then used to identify suitable RWH (rainwater harvesting) areas. The resulting thematic layers (such as rainfall, land use/land cover, soil type, slope, runoff depth, drainage density, stream order and distance from road) were combined into one overlay to produce map of RWH suitability. The results showed that 9% of the study region is 'very highly suitable' and 25% is 'highly suitable'. On the other hand, 36% of the area, distributed in the north-west, west and south-west of the study region, is 'moderately suitable'. While 21% of the region, distributed in east and south-east part of the region, has 'low suitability' and 9% is found as 'unsuitable area'. The findings of this research will contribute towards wider adoption of RWH in Greater Western Sydney region to meet irrigation demand. The developed methodology can be adapted to any other region/country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a review of recent rainwater harvesting (RWH) research by a bibliometric analysis (based on performance analysis and science mapping method). Following the inclusion/exclusion criteria, a total of 3226 publications were selected for this bibliometric analysis. From the selected publications, the top journals were identified according to number of publications and number of citations, as well as the authors with the highest number of publications. It has been found that publication rate on RWH has been increasing steadily since 2005. Water (MDPI) journal has published the highest number of publications (128). Based on the literature considered in this review, the top five authors are found as Ghisi, E., Han, M., Rahman, A., Butler, D. and Imteaz, M.A. in that order. With respect to research collaborations, the top performing countries are USA–China, USA–Australia, USA–UK, Australia–UK and Australia–China. Although, the most dominant keywords are found to be 'rain', 'rainwater', 'water supply' and 'rainwater harvesting', since 2016, a higher emphasis has been attributed to 'floods', 'efficiency', 'climate change', 'performance assessment' and 'housing'. It is expected that RWH research will continue to rise in future following the current trends as it is regarded as a sustainable means of water cycle management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change, freshwater supply will be limited at many locations around the globe. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has emerged as an alternative and sustainable freshwater source. In this study, the impacts of climate change on water saving as well as the reliability of a RWH system are investigated using data from eight Australian capital cities. Both historical and projected rainfall data were incorporated into a daily water balance model to evaluate the performance of a RWH system in relation to its reliability, water savings and scarcity. Indoor (toilet and laundry), outdoor (irrigation) and combined (indoor plus outdoor) water demands were considered for a 5 m3 tank size. It has been found that in the future period, the water savings and reliability of a RWH system will reduce slightly across the selected cities. Different capital cities of Australia will experience different level of performance for a RWH system depending on their locations, water uses and seasons. The findings of this study will be useful to water authorities and policy makers to plan for a sustainable RWH system under changing climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater is a critical input to estuaries but is under increasing demand to support upstream human activities. In this study, otolith biochronology was used to quantify the relationship between river discharge and juvenile growth rates of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) in three regions of the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia. In all regions, river discharge had a strong positive effect on juvenile growth rates. Models were also developed which incorporated the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO). SOI values corresponding to La Niña events had strong positive consequences for juvenile barramundi growth rates in all regions, and the intensity of positive wet season MJO pulses had a strong positive effect on growth rates in the perennially flowing river, but not the intermittently flowing rivers. The consequences of three hypothetical water development scenarios were estimated for the perennial river. The model predicted a 12%, 8% and 1% reduction in annual barramundi growth rates under proposed scenarios for 18%, 8%, and 3% reduction in river discharge, respectively. Fish growth is a robust, quantitative metric that can be monitored pre and post water resource development to identify the least impactful development scenario and monitor its compliance and success through time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]