Holistic impact assessment and cost savings of rainwater harvesting at the watershed scale
Abstract
We evaluated the impacts of domestic and agricultural rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in three watersheds within the Albemarle-Pamlico river basin (southeastern U.S.) using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost assessment. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) categories included energy demand, fossil fuel, metals, ozone depletion, global warming, acidification, smog, blue and green water use, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, and human health effects. Building upon previous LCAs of near-optimal domestic and agricultural RWH systems in the region, we scaled functional unit LCIA scores for adoption rates of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% and compared these to conventional municipal water and well water systems. In addition to investigating water shed scale impacts of RWH adoption, which few studies have addressed, potential life cycle cost savings due to reduced cumulative energy demand were scaled in each watershed for a more comprehensive analysis. The importance of managing the holistic water balance, including blue water (surface/ground water), green water (rainwater) use, and annual precipitation and their relationship to RWH are also addressed. RWH contributes to water resource sustainability by offsetting surface and ground water consumption and by reducing environmental and human health impacts compared to conventional sources. A watershed-wide RWH adoption rate of 25% has amore »
- Authors:
-
- Oak Ridge Inst. for Science and Education (ORISE), Athens, GA (United States). Postdoctoral Research Participant. US Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Research and Development
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Athens, GA (United States). Office of Research and Development
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1627927
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0014664
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Elementa
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 5; Journal Issue: 0; Journal ID: ISSN 2325-1026
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; watershed scale; rainwater harvesting; sustainability; life cycle cost and impact
Citation Formats
Ghimire, Santosh R., and Johnston, John M. Holistic impact assessment and cost savings of rainwater harvesting at the watershed scale. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1525/elementa.135.
Ghimire, Santosh R., & Johnston, John M. Holistic impact assessment and cost savings of rainwater harvesting at the watershed scale. United States. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.135
Ghimire, Santosh R., and Johnston, John M. Thu .
"Holistic impact assessment and cost savings of rainwater harvesting at the watershed scale". United States. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.135. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1627927.
@article{osti_1627927,
title = {Holistic impact assessment and cost savings of rainwater harvesting at the watershed scale},
author = {Ghimire, Santosh R. and Johnston, John M.},
abstractNote = {We evaluated the impacts of domestic and agricultural rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in three watersheds within the Albemarle-Pamlico river basin (southeastern U.S.) using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost assessment. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) categories included energy demand, fossil fuel, metals, ozone depletion, global warming, acidification, smog, blue and green water use, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, and human health effects. Building upon previous LCAs of near-optimal domestic and agricultural RWH systems in the region, we scaled functional unit LCIA scores for adoption rates of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% and compared these to conventional municipal water and well water systems. In addition to investigating water shed scale impacts of RWH adoption, which few studies have addressed, potential life cycle cost savings due to reduced cumulative energy demand were scaled in each watershed for a more comprehensive analysis. The importance of managing the holistic water balance, including blue water (surface/ground water), green water (rainwater) use, and annual precipitation and their relationship to RWH are also addressed. RWH contributes to water resource sustainability by offsetting surface and ground water consumption and by reducing environmental and human health impacts compared to conventional sources. A watershed-wide RWH adoption rate of 25% has a number of ecological and human health benefits including blue water use reduction ranging from 2–39 Mm3 , cumulative energy savings of 12–210 TJ, and reduced global warming potential of 600–10,100 Mg CO2 eq. Potential maximum lifetime energy cost savings were estimated at $5M and $24M corresponding to domestic RWH in Greens Mill and agricultural RWH in Back Creek watersheds.},
doi = {10.1525/elementa.135},
journal = {Elementa},
number = 0,
volume = 5,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Feb 09 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Thu Feb 09 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
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Figure 1: Study area within the Albemarle-Pamlico basin with 25% adoption rate for domestic RWH (DRWH) systems (1 dot = 100). Figure modified from Ghimire and Johnston (2013).
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Feasibility study of rainwater harvesting system in Sylhet City
journal, March 2011
- Alam, R.; Munna, G.; Chowdhury, M. A. I.
- Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Vol. 184, Issue 1
Effectiveness of Rainwater Harvesting in Runoff Volume Reduction in a Planned Industrial Park, China
journal, January 2014
- Zhang, Xingqi; Hu, Maochuan
- Water Resources Management, Vol. 28, Issue 3
Environmental analysis of rainwater harvesting infrastructures in diffuse and compact urban models of Mediterranean climate
journal, September 2011
- Angrill, Sara; Farreny, Ramon; Gasol, Carles M.
- The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Vol. 17, Issue 1
Hydrological impacts of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in a case study catchment: The Arvari River, Rajasthan, India. Part 1: Field-scale impacts
journal, December 2010
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Rainwater harvesting in the United States: a survey of common system practices
journal, July 2014
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Economic and environmental analysis of standard, high efficiency, rainwater flushed, and composting toilets
journal, March 2011
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- Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 92, Issue 3
Hydro-economic evaluation of rainwater harvesting and management technologies: Farmers’ investment options and risks in semi-arid Laikipia district of Kenya
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- Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, Vol. 30, Issue 11-16
A GIS-based decision support system for rainwater harvesting (RHADESS)
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Cost effectiveness and tradeoff on the use of rainwater tank: An empirical study in Australian residential decision-making
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Performance of rainwater harvesting systems in the southeastern United States
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Rainwater tanks in multi-unit buildings: A case study for three Australian cities
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Performance of a large building rainwater harvesting system
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Monsoon Harvests: The Living Legacies of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in South India
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Traci.: The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts
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Water depletion: An improved metric for incorporating seasonal and dry-year water scarcity into water risk assessments
journal, January 2016
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Life cycle cost assessment of a rain water harvesting system for toilet flushing
journal, May 2012
- Ghimire, S. R.; Watkins, D. W.; Li, K.
- Water Supply, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Small Reservoir Distribution, Rate of Construction, and Uses in the Upper and Middle Chattahoochee Basins of the Georgia Piedmont, USA, 1950–2010
journal, April 2014
- Ignatius, Amber; Jones, John
- ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, Vol. 3, Issue 2
Works referencing / citing this record:
Sustainability assessment of agricultural rainwater harvesting: Evaluation of alternative crop types and irrigation practices
journal, May 2019
- Ghimire, Santosh R.; Johnston, John M.
- PLOS ONE, Vol. 14, Issue 5
Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.