Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for reuse at the site, rather than allowing it to drain. Rainwater can be collected in rivers or roofs and in many places the collected water is redirected to a deep well, a percolation deposit, collected from dew, fog with networks or other tools . Its uses include water for gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with adequate treatment, interior heating for houses, etc. Harvested water can also be used as drinking water, long-term storage and for other purposes, such as groundwater recharge.
Advantages
Rainwater harvesting provides an independent water supply during regional water restrictions, and in developed countries, it is often used to supplement the main supply. It provides water when a drought occurs, it can help mitigate flooding in low-lying areas and reduce the demand for wells that can allow groundwater levels to be maintained. It also helps in the availability of drinking water, since the rainwater is substantially free of salinity and other salts. The application of rainwater in the sewer system provides a substantial benefit for the water supply and wastewater subsystems by reducing the need for clean water in the less generated water distribution system in the sewer system and a reduction in stormwater runoff polluting bodies of fresh water.
A large amount of work has focused on the development of life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methodologies to assess the level of environmental impact and money that can be saved by implementing collection systems of rainwater. More development and knowledge is required to understand the benefits of rainwater harvesting that can be provided to agriculture. Many countries, especially those with arid environments, use rainwater harvesting as a cheap and reliable source of clean water. To improve irrigation in arid environments, soil ridges are built to trap and prevent rainwater from flowing down hills and slopes. Even in periods of little rain enough water is collected for crops to grow. You can collect water from roofs, you can build dams and ponds to contain large amounts of rainwater, so that even on days when there is no rain, there is enough water to irrigate the crops.
System configuration
Rainwater collection systems can vary in complexity, from systems that can be installed with minimal skills to automated systems that require advanced configuration and installation. The basic rainwater collection system is more a plumbing job than a technical job, since all the points of sale from the terrace of the building are connected through a pipeline to an underground tank that stores water.
The systems are ideally sized to meet the water demand during the dry season, as they must be large enough to support the daily water consumption. Specifically, the rain catchment area, such as the roof of a building, must be large enough to maintain an adequate water flow. The size of the water storage tank should be large enough to contain the captured water. For low-tech systems, many methods are used to capture rainwater: rooftop systems, capture of surface water and pumping of rainwater that has already been soaked in the ground or captured in tanks and stored in tanks ( cisterns).
Before a rainwater collection system is built, the use of digital tools is useful. For example, to detect if a region has a high potential for rainwater harvesting, GIS maps of water use can be made using an online interactive tool. Or to calculate how much water is needed to meet a community's water needs, the Rain is Gain tool helps. Tools like these can save time and money before a commitment is made to build a system, in addition to making the project sustainable and long lasting.