Affiliations: Department of Civil and Infrastructure Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), Sri Lanka | Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Abstract: Promotion of sustainable development in the building sector with
reduced embodied energy and life cycle costs has become a primary need for
facing the emerging threats of global warming and depleting energy sources. In
this context, the minimization of the dependence on reticulated water supply is
of crucial importance due to the high level of operational energy and the cost
associated with the reticulated water supply. For this purpose, rainwater
harvesting (RWH) can offer an ideal solution where the harvested water can be
easily used for fl ushing of toilets and gardening. Though design curves and
parameters are available for design of the rainwater tanks for a signifi cant
water saving effi ciency (WSE) in temperate climate regions, the validity and
the applicability of these curves and parameters for tropical climate regions
such as Sri Lanka, where rainfall patterns vary signifi cantly across
geographical and climatic boundaries, is still limited. It is also important to
utilize a practical solution to develop multiple data, using short-term
rainfall data, in order to compensate for the lack of available data for many
geographical regions. In this research, a practical methodology was employed
using short-term rainfall data and an experimental set up to validate design
curves for WSE, obtained in temperate climate regions, to predict the WSE for
tropical climate regions.
Keywords: Rain water harvesting, sustainable development, water saving effi ciency
