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Newsletter and Technical Publications
Rainwater Harvesting And Utilisation
An Environmentally Sound Approach for Sustainable
Urban Water Management: An Introductory Guide for Decision-Makers
What Must be Considered
When Selecting Rainwater as a Water Supply Source?
| The disadvantages of the rainwater harvesting and utilisation systems
are: |
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The catchment area and storage capacity of a system
are relatively small. There is a great variation in weather. During
a prolonged drought, the storage tank may dry up. |
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Maintenance of rainwater harvesting systems, and the
quality of collected water, can be difficult for users. |
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Extensive development of rainwater harvesting systems
may reduce the income of public water systems. |
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Rainwater harvesting systems are often not part of the
building code and lack clear guidelines for users/developers to follow. |
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Rainwater utilisation has not been recognized as an
alternative of water supply system by the public sector. Governments
typically do not include rainwater utilisation in their water management
policies, and citizens do not demand rainwater utilisation in their
communities. |
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Rainwater storage tanks may be a hazard to children
who play around it. |
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Rainwater storage tanks may take up valuable space. |
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Some development costs of larger rainwater catchment
system may be too high if the costs are not shared with other systems
as part of a multi-purpose network |
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| Learning from these advantages and disadvantages, the decision to use rainwater
as a new water source should be discussed among citizen/user groups and government
water officials. Topics of such discussion might include: |
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What are the alternatives for new water supply sources? |
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative
of new water source? |
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How is rainwater utilisation ranked among the alternatives of
new water supply sources, taking into account the viewpoints of private citizens
and governmental officials? |
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What are the responsibilities of users and communities for the
participation in new water source development? |
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| After these discussions, if rainwater utilisation is selected for development,
then a detailed engineering feasibility study can be undertaken. |
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