Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic Analysis
Despite numerous studies on residential rainwater tank, studies on commercial rainwater tank are scarce. Corporate authorities pay little heed on this sustainable feature. With the aim of encouraging corporate authorities, this study presents the feasibility and economic benefits of rainwater harves...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Hydrology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/8/1/9 |
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| author | Md. Rezaul Karim B. M. Sadman Sakib Sk. Sadman Sakib Monzur Alam Imteaz |
| author_facet | Md. Rezaul Karim B. M. Sadman Sakib Sk. Sadman Sakib Monzur Alam Imteaz |
| author_sort | Md. Rezaul Karim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite numerous studies on residential rainwater tank, studies on commercial rainwater tank are scarce. Corporate authorities pay little heed on this sustainable feature. With the aim of encouraging corporate authorities, this study presents the feasibility and economic benefits of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in commercial buildings in the capital city of Bangladesh, where water authority struggles to maintain town water supply. The analysis was conducted using a daily water balance model under three climate scenarios (wet, dry and normal year) for five commercial buildings having catchment areas varying from 315 to 776 m<sup>2</sup> and the storage tank capacity varying from 100 to 600 m<sup>3</sup>. It was found that for a water demand of 30 L per capita per day (lpcd), about 11% to 19% and 16% to 26.80% of the annual water demand can be supplemented by rainwater harvesting under the normal year and wet year climate conditions, respectively. The payback periods are found to be very short, only 2.25 to 3.75 years and benefit–cost (B/C) ratios are more than 1.0, even for building having the smallest catchment area (i.e., 315 m<sup>2</sup>) and no significant overflow would occur during monsoon, which leads to both economic and environmental benefits. Though the findings cannot be translated to other cities as those are dependent on factors like water price, interest rate, rainfall amount and pattern, however other cities having significant rainfall amounts should conduct similar studies to expedite implementations of widescale rainwater harvesting. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:09:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64eb1f59bc854b889a97231d61ee07a0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2306-5338 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:09:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hydrology |
| spelling | doaj.art-64eb1f59bc854b889a97231d61ee07a02023-12-03T12:51:17ZengMDPI AGHydrology2306-53382021-01-0181910.3390/hydrology8010009Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic AnalysisMd. Rezaul Karim0B. M. Sadman Sakib1Sk. Sadman Sakib2Monzur Alam Imteaz3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Board Bazar, Gazipur 1704, BangladeshDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Board Bazar, Gazipur 1704, BangladeshDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Board Bazar, Gazipur 1704, BangladeshDepartment of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, John Street, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, AustraliaDespite numerous studies on residential rainwater tank, studies on commercial rainwater tank are scarce. Corporate authorities pay little heed on this sustainable feature. With the aim of encouraging corporate authorities, this study presents the feasibility and economic benefits of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in commercial buildings in the capital city of Bangladesh, where water authority struggles to maintain town water supply. The analysis was conducted using a daily water balance model under three climate scenarios (wet, dry and normal year) for five commercial buildings having catchment areas varying from 315 to 776 m<sup>2</sup> and the storage tank capacity varying from 100 to 600 m<sup>3</sup>. It was found that for a water demand of 30 L per capita per day (lpcd), about 11% to 19% and 16% to 26.80% of the annual water demand can be supplemented by rainwater harvesting under the normal year and wet year climate conditions, respectively. The payback periods are found to be very short, only 2.25 to 3.75 years and benefit–cost (B/C) ratios are more than 1.0, even for building having the smallest catchment area (i.e., 315 m<sup>2</sup>) and no significant overflow would occur during monsoon, which leads to both economic and environmental benefits. Though the findings cannot be translated to other cities as those are dependent on factors like water price, interest rate, rainfall amount and pattern, however other cities having significant rainfall amounts should conduct similar studies to expedite implementations of widescale rainwater harvesting.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/8/1/9urban rainwater harvestingnon-potable water usesmass balance modelpayback periodBangladesh |
| spellingShingle | Md. Rezaul Karim B. M. Sadman Sakib Sk. Sadman Sakib Monzur Alam Imteaz Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic Analysis Hydrology urban rainwater harvesting non-potable water uses mass balance model payback period Bangladesh |
| title | Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic Analysis |
| title_full | Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic Analysis |
| title_short | Rainwater Harvesting Potentials in Commercial Buildings in Dhaka: Reliability and Economic Analysis |
| title_sort | rainwater harvesting potentials in commercial buildings in dhaka reliability and economic analysis |
| topic | urban rainwater harvesting non-potable water uses mass balance model payback period Bangladesh |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/8/1/9 |
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