02 - 5 RWH

Chapter 2_5
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
Rain Water Harvesting

Definition of RWH
What is Rain Water Harvesting?

 It is the collection, storage and management of rainwater/runoff.
 The RWH is best practiced in arid and semi arid regions, which
receive annual RF of 600mm or less.
Merits of RWH
 RWH is an option where conventional water supply systems
have failed to meet the needs of the people.
 Gives very convenient supply - no walking required (rural

areas)
 Financial savings – No water bills…rainwater is “free”!! Water

harvesting systems require little recurring expenditure.
construction, operation and maintenance are not labor
intensive.
 Gives fairly high water quality which may be further increased

by simple means.
Merits of RWH
 Water conservation and reduced groundwater exploitation – as
less water is required from other sources.
 Provides independent household reservoirs when main

supplies are interrupted.
 Water Demand Management – users are usually individuals

and more likely exercise water conservation to prevent the
storage tank from drying up.
 RWH is a technology which is flexible and adaptable to a very

wide variety of conditions, being used in the richest and the
poorest societies, and in the wettest and the driest regions.
Demerits of RWH
 Objections to locating RWH infrastructure on private

property.
 Some bias against poorest households
 Vulnerability to drought years.
 Rain water has basically flat taste
 Problems related to high levels of atmospheric pollution

may make rainwater unsuitable for high quality uses such
as drinking
 Reduced income for public water sectors
Patterns of Usage
 In some places, RWH is used merely to capture enough water

during a storm to save the main water source.
 In arid areas, however, RWH is needed to provide enough

water to meet the full needs of the user.
 Accordingly, rainwater utilization can be classified as:

 Occasional
 Intermittent
 Partial
 Full
Patterns of Usage
 Occasional:
 to store enough water for just a few days of dry weather.
 After few days the user will have to return to using an alternative
water source.
 It is ideally suited to a climate where there is uniform, or bimodal

rainfall pattern with very few dry days during the year and where
alternative water sources are close at hand.
 Intermittent:
 This type is used where the requirements of the user are met for a
part of the year. E.g. single long rainy season.
 During the dry season an alternative water source has to be used.
 Small storage is adequate for the days when there is no rain.

Patterns of Usage
 Partial:
 It is used for partial coverage of the water requirements of the
user, during the whole of the year.
 E.g. where a family gathers rainwater to meet only the high-quality

needs such as drinking or cooking, while other needs such as
bathing and clothes washing are met by a water source with a
lower quality
 Full:
 Here, the total water demand of the user is met for the whole of
the year by rainwater only.
 There must be sufficient rainfall, catchment area, and storage

capacity to meet the needs.
Patterns of Usage
 Needs a careful feasibility study beforehand to ensure that

conditions are suitable.
 In areas with bimodal RF, the storage is recharged during both

wet seasons and hence, smaller than that with single wet season.
 A strict water management strategy is required with such a

system to ensure that the water is used carefully and will last until
the next wet season.
Patterns of Usage
Patterns of usage are dependent on:

 Annual Rainfall: It decides the total amount of water available to
the consumer (= rainfall x catchment area)
 Rainfall pattern: regularity of rainfall in a year will decide the
storage requirement. If regular, the storage requirement is low and
hence the cost.
 Catchment surface area: It decides the amount of runoff that can
be collected.
 Storage capacity: the storage tanak is the most expensive
component of the RWH system and so a carful analysis of storage
requirement against cost has to be carried out.
 Water consumption: The daily per capita consumption varies
from place to place. This will have impacts on system
specification.
Patterns of Usage
Patterns of usage are dependent on:

 Number of users: This again greatly influences the requirements.
 System Cost: It is the major factor in any scheme.
 Alternative water sources: RWH system may be used only for

drinking (demands higher quality water) and cooking and a poorer
quality water from other sources for other activities.
 Suitable water management strategy: where there is a strong

reliance on stored rainwater, there is a need to manage it so that it
does not dry up before expected.
Types of RWH
Broadly there are two ways of harvesting rain water
 Surface runoff harvesting
 Roof top runoff harvesting
Types of RWH
Types of RWH
1. Surface runoff harvesting

 Mostly surface runoff harvesting used for recharging
aquifers and agriculture.
 Less applicable for drinking as compared to roof runoff

due to some dissolved materials on the surface.
 In Ethiopia, surface runoff harvesting is practiced in areas

of chronic water resource. E.g Tigray, Hararge, Konso
 Characterized by topography, soil type and land use

Types of RWH
2. Roof harvesting
 Collecting rainwater from a roof through roof gutter to the
storage tank
Types of RWH
2. Roof harvesting
 Commonly practiced in urban areas for domestic use and
gardening
 Relatively clean as compared to surface one
 Depends on roof size and type
 Corrugated iron roofs are the most suitable
 Grass roofs neither the quality nor quantity of runoff from

them is suitable and also difficult to gutter
Components of RWH system
Basic components of RWH system:

 A catchment surface
 A delivery system
 A storage reservoir (surface and subsurface tanks,

rock catchment dams, earth dams, etc.)
 A catchment surface:
1. Roof catchments (for roof top water harvesting)
• Different Roof types
• Good or Poorly designed
2. Ground catchments
3. Rock catchments
 A delivery system:
 For transporting water from the catchment to the storage
reservoir, the delivery system could be:
 Gutters (in roof RWH)
 Types of gutters
 First flush and Filtration system
 Surface drains/channels
 Storage Reservoir:
 Many reservoir types used for rainwater storage
 Surface tanks (Ferro cement, bricks/blocks, RCC, metal,
plastic, etc.)
 Subsurface tanks (concrete, brick and traditional clay
linings)
 Communal rock catchment dams
 Subsurface dams built of soil
 Earth dams, etc.
 Cylindrical or spherical tanks (E.g the thai jar) are stronger
and cost-effective, use less material than square tanks.
 A solid foundation is essential for surface rainwater tanks.
 Storage Reservoir:
 It represents the biggest capital investment in domestic
RWH system.
 Thus, particularly for large scale water storage, it requires
careful design to provide optimal storage capacity.
 The choice of type and capacity depends on technical and
economic considerations including:
 Space availability
 Options available locally
 Local traditions for water storage
 Cost (materials and labour)
 Materials and skills available locally
 Ground conditions
 Patterns of usage

Design of RWH – Factors to be considered
1.Characteristics of precipitation
 Rainfall amount and duration
 Rain intensity
 Aerial rainfall distribution
2. Characteristics of drainage basin

 Roof catchments- size (area) and type
 Coefficient of runoff
 Evaporation
 Wind speed
 Size of basin
 Shape of basin
 soil type, land use, and slope
Design of RWH – Input data required
 Reliable rainfall data for a period of 10 years ( longer in drought

prone areas) and weather patterns.
 Number of users and consumption rate: a daily water demand

15-25 lit/person/day may be assumed for domestic use
 Catchment area:
 Runoff coefficient: It ranges from 0.5 to 0.9 depending upon

roof or land feature and slope.
Design of RWH – Sizing of a domestic RWH system
 The main calculation for designing Reliable rainfall a domestic

RWH system will be to size the water tank to give adequate
storage capacity.
 The techniques available for sizing storage tanks include:
 Demand side approach
 Supply side approach
 Computer based methods (simtanka)
Design of RWH
1. Demand Side Approach:

 A very simple method.
 The largest storage requirement is calculated based on the

consumption rates and occupancy of the building.
 The method assumes that sufficient RF and catchment area

which is adequate.
 Thus, it is used in such a situation.
 It is a method for acquiring rough estimates of tank size.

Design of RWH
1. Demand Side Approach:

Example:
 Consumption per capita per day, C = 20 lit
 Number of people per household, n =6
 Longest average dry period, d = 25 days
Required: What is the minimum storage size?
Solution:
 Storage requirement, T = Cxnxd = 20x6x25 = 3000litres
Design of RWH
2. Supply Side Approach:

 In low RF areas or areas with uneven RF distribution, carefully
calculate the size of storage to avoid unnecessary expense.
 During some months of the year there may be an excess
water, while at other times there will be deficit.
 If there is sufficient water throughout the year to meet the

demand, then sufficient storage will be required to bridge
the period of scarcity.
Design of RWH

Example: Roof top water Harvesting
 Service: Local medical dispensary/clinic
 Location: Biharamulo district, Tanzania
 Number of staff = 7
 Maximum number of patients = 40
 Staff consumption = 45 lit/day/person
 Patient consumption = 10 lit/day/person
 Type of RWH system demanded: Roof WH
 Roof area = 190m2
 Runoff coefficient (for new GI roof) = 0.9
 Average annual rainfall = 1056mm (Uni-modal)
 Rainfall distribution is graphically given
Required: To size the system
Design of RWH
Design of RWH

Solution:
 Demand:
 Staff consumption = 45 lit/day * 7 = 315 lit/day
 Patient consumption = 10 lit/day*40 = 400 lit/day
 Total demand =315 +400 = 715 lit/day or 21.75m3/month
 Supply:
 Annual available water (assuming all is collected)
= 190m2*1.056m*0.9 = 180.58m3
 Daily available water=180.58/365=0.4947m3/day or 494.7 lit/day
 So, to supply water all the year to meet the needs of the Clinic,
the demand cannot exceed 494.7 lit/day.
 The expected demand of 715 lit/day can not be met by the
available harvested water. Therefore, careful water management
will be required.
Design of RWH
Comparison of water harvested and the amount that can be supplied

Design of RWH
 The roof meets the demand on in October.

 If it is assumed that the tank is empty at the end of September, the
maximum storage requirement can be calculated from the cumulative
harvested and cumulative demand graph (see figure below).
Cumulative harvested vs cumulative demand

Design of RWH
Note:
 Column 2: Average monthly historical rainfall data
 Column 3:Monthly harvested water = Column 1* x Catchment Area*Runoff coefficient
 Column 4: Cumulative harvested for Nov. Harvested in Oct + that in Nov.
 Column 5: Water demand = The total annual water supply divided by 12
 Column 6: Cumulative demand for Nov = Oct Demand + Nov demand.
 Column 7: Difference in supply and Demand = Cum. Harvested – Cum. Demand
Design of RWH
 From the difference in accumulated inflow and outflow calculation for

each month, the capacity of the tank is the greatest excess of water
over and above consumption.
 This occurs in April with a storage requirement of 50.45m3.
 All this water will have to be stored to cover the shortfall during the dry
period.
 With the optimized design still only 497.7 lit/day of the required
demand of 715 lit/day can be met.
Design of RWH – Rock Catchment Dams
 Impermeable bedrock surfaces within the rock top slopes or exposed

rock outcrops in the lowlands often have natural hollows or valleys
which can be turned into water reservoirs by building dams.
 The dam can be a simple stone wall constructed around the
downstream end of hollows or valleys.
 Stone or mortar gutters may be built across the rock to channel runoff
water into the dam.
To calculate the storage volume

of a simple rock catchment dam,
the shape of the reservoir is
estimated in two halves, giving
approximate storage volume of:
V=1/6*L*Y*(Xa+Xb)
Rock catchment siting factors:

 Dams should be built at sites that can produce a relatively high depth
to surface area ratio so as to minimize evaporation losses.
 Rock surfaces should not be fractured or cracked, which may cause
the water to leak away to deeper zones or underneath the dam.
 Dam foundation must be of solid impermeable rock with no soil
pockets or fracture lines.
 The dam should be in a convenient location for user groups.
 There should be no severe soil erosion in the catchment area.
Design and construction of a rock catchment:

 A solid foundation to avoid potential leaks
 A sound dam construction, which if required, can be built in stages.
 An outlet, gravity pipe and water tap point should be constructed to
abstract water down stream from the dam.
 The downstream side of the dam should be protected against erosion
in case the dam overflows.
 The size of the dam and catchment area should be consistent with the
available labor force.
 The shape of the reservoir created by the dam should minimize
evaporation losses.
 Local construction materials should be relied on.
 Soil erosion should be absent in the catchment area or be easily
controlled by simple soil conservation methods.
 The catchment area should be protected against pollution.
Design of RWH – Ground water Dams
 Underground harvesting systems exploit water already infiltrated and

concentrated through natural hydrological processes into the sand
rivers that fill valleys in arid and semi arid areas
 The systems comprise;
 Subsurface dams: vertical impermeable barriers of either
compacted clay, masonry or concrete placed across and into the
bed of a sandy river.
 Sand dams: developed by gradually building up a wedge-shaped
wall in stages with foundations on impermeable rock. This results
in sand being trapped behind the wall.
 It is difficult to estimate the amount of increased water supply resulting

from ground water dams.
 The amount of extra water available to well users at the dam location
depends on the depth, width, length and hydraulic gradient of the sand
river.
 For raised sand dams, it is possible to make an estimate of the
minimum increase in supply that can be expected by locally raising
sand volume in the river bed, and hence the water storage capacity in
the vicinity.
Example:
 River width, W = 15m
 Slope, S = 3%
 Raised sand height, H = 3m
 Porosity of the sand = 34%
What is the water storage volume of the sand dam?
Solution:
 An increase in sand volume, V = 3/2 * (300/3)*15 = 2250m3
 As the increased sand volume consists of saturated coarse sand, with
a porosity of 34%, this can provide a water storage volume of:
Vw = 0.34*2250 = 765m3
Thank you!

Bermuda roof glides Chinese court yard system
Corrugated Iron

Poor Roof catchment system
• Gutter sloping to tank.
• Overflow pipe well below the
top of the tank
• Outlet tap high above the base
of the tank
• Down pipe wasting water
• Only part of the roof area used
1 – Gutter slope
2 – Height of overflow
3 – Height of tap
4 – Catchment efficiency
5 – Storage efficiency
Good Roof catchment system

Ground catchment system

Rock catchment system

Gutters
Thai jar

First flush and Filtration system
First Flush: To remove debris, dirt and dust on the roof before entering the tank.

Upflow sand filter
• It is sometimes used for filtering
• It is only suitable if the inflow is
slow.
• It is effective but add cost.
Design of RWH - Runoff Coefficient values
S/No Type of area Value of C

Flat land Rolling land Hilly land
(0-5 %) (5-10%) (10-30%)
1. a Urban area
30% paved 0.4 0.5 -
50% paved 0.55 0.65 -
70% paved 0.65 0.8 -
b Single family residence 0.3
in urban area
2 Cultivated area
Open sand loam 0.3 0.4 0.52
Clay & silt loam 0.5 0.6 0.72
Tight clay 0.6 0.7 0.82
Design of RWH - Runoff Coefficient values
S/No Type of area Value of C

Flat land Rolling land Hilly land
(0-5 %) (5-10%) (10-30%)
3 Pasture/grazing land
-Open sandy loam 0.1 0.16 0.22
-Clay & silt loam 0.3 0.36 0.42
-Tight clay 0.4 0.55 0.60
4 Wooded land or
forested area 0.1 0.25 0.30
-open sandy loam 0.3 0.35 0.50
-clay & silt loam 0.4 0.50 0.60
-tight clay

02 - 5 RWH

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02 - 5 RWH

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Chapter 2_5

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Rain Water Harvesting

What is Rain Water Harvesting?

 Gives very convenient supply - no walking required (rural

 Financial savings – No water bills…rainwater is “free”!! Water

 Gives fairly high water quality which may be further increased

 Provides independent household reservoirs when main

 Water Demand Management – users are usually individuals

 RWH is a technology which is flexible and adaptable to a very

 Objections to locating RWH infrastructure on private

 Some bias against poorest households

 Vulnerability to drought years.

 Rain water has basically flat taste

 Problems related to high levels of atmospheric pollution

 In some places, RWH is used merely to capture enough water

 In arid areas, however, RWH is needed to provide enough

 Accordingly, rainwater utilization can be classified as:

 It is ideally suited to a climate where there is uniform, or bimodal

 During the dry season an alternative water source has to be used.

 Small storage is adequate for the days when there is no rain.

 E.g. where a family gathers rainwater to meet only the high-quality

 There must be sufficient rainfall, catchment area, and storage

 Needs a careful feasibility study beforehand to ensure that

 In areas with bimodal RF, the storage is recharged during both

 A strict water management strategy is required with such a

Patterns of usage are dependent on:

Patterns of usage are dependent on:

 System Cost: It is the major factor in any scheme.

 Alternative water sources: RWH system may be used only for

 Suitable water management strategy: where there is a strong

1. Surface runoff harvesting

 Less applicable for drinking as compared to roof runoff

 In Ethiopia, surface runoff harvesting is practiced in areas

 Characterized by topography, soil type and land use

 Relatively clean as compared to surface one

 Depends on roof size and type

 Corrugated iron roofs are the most suitable

 Grass roofs neither the quality nor quantity of runoff from

Components of RWH system

Basic components of RWH system:

 A storage reservoir (surface and subsurface tanks,

Components of RWH system

• Good or Poorly designed

Components of RWH system

 First flush and Filtration system

Components of RWH system

Components of RWH system

Components of RWH system

Design of RWH – Factors to be considered

2. Characteristics of drainage basin

Design of RWH – Input data required

 Reliable rainfall data for a period of 10 years ( longer in drought

 Number of users and consumption rate: a daily water demand

 Runoff coefficient: It ranges from 0.5 to 0.9 depending upon

Design of RWH – Sizing of a domestic RWH system

 The main calculation for designing Reliable rainfall a domestic

1. Demand Side Approach:

 The largest storage requirement is calculated based on the

 The method assumes that sufficient RF and catchment area

 Thus, it is used in such a situation.

 It is a method for acquiring rough estimates of tank size.

1. Demand Side Approach: