IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v34y2014icp225-242.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy intensity of rainwater harvesting systems: A review

Author

Listed:
  • Vieira, Abel S.
  • Beal, Cara D.
  • Ghisi, Enedir
  • Stewart, Rodney A.

Abstract

Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RHS) are increasingly used in buildings to mitigate water shortage and rising prices of centralised water supply. Notwithstanding the benefits of RHS, they may also promote adverse impacts mainly related to the high consumption of energy. In this context, energy intensity (i.e. unit of energy per unit of water) is a crucial parameter for assessing the environmental feasibility of different RHS. However, only recently has attention been drawn to the connection between water and energy consumption, which has been prompted by the increasing importance of water security, energy efficiency and economic feasibility. This connection, known as the water-energy nexus, has been increasingly acknowledged as a key principal for water planning. The objective of this study is twofold: (i) to review the energy intensity data reported for RHS; and (ii) to outline strategies to enhance the energy performance of RHS in buildings. For the reviewed literature, the median energy intensity of theoretical studies (0.20kWh/m³) was considerably lower than that described in empirical studies (1.40kWh/m³). This implies that theoretical assessments of energy intensity may not sufficiently consider the energy used for pump start-ups and standby mode, as well as the true motor and pump energy efficiency. However, to some extent, this difference may also represent the amount of energy that can be reduced by optimising RHS design and operation. When comparing RHS to conventional town water supply systems, the reviewed empirical studies showed that RHS tend to be three times more energy intensive, although optimised RHS can have more comparable values. Ultimately, it is predominately the local characteristics, such as rainwater demand, building type (single-storey or multi-storey), RHS sub-systems design, potable water plumbing system design, and town water energy intensity, among other factors that will determine whether or not the environmental and economic performances of RHS are acceptable.

Suggested Citation

  • Vieira, Abel S. & Beal, Cara D. & Ghisi, Enedir & Stewart, Rodney A., 2014. "Energy intensity of rainwater harvesting systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 225-242.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:34:y:2014:i:c:p:225-242
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2014.03.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032114001695
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2014.03.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parikh, Jyoti & Parikh, Kirit, 2011. "India’s energy needs and low carbon options," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 3650-3658.
    2. Urmee, Tania & Thoo, Sid & Killick, Winnie, 2012. "Energy efficiency status of the community housing in Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 1916-1925.
    3. Dubreuil, Aurelie & Assoumou, Edi & Bouckaert, Stephanie & Selosse, Sandrine & Maı¨zi, Nadia, 2013. "Water modeling in an energy optimization framework – The water-scarce middle east context," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 268-279.
    4. Abhyankar, Nikit & Phadke, Amol, 2012. "Impact of large-scale energy efficiency programs on utility finances and consumer tariffs in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 308-326.
    5. Plappally, A.K. & Lienhard V, J.H., 2012. "Energy requirements for water production, treatment, end use, reclamation, and disposal," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4818-4848.
    6. Teschner, Na'ama & McDonald, Adrian & Foxon, Timothy J. & Paavola, Jouni, 2012. "Integrated transitions toward sustainability: The case of water and energy policies in Israel," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 457-468.
    7. Mohamed Ibrahim, 2009. "Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Areas: a Success Story from Gadarif City in Central Sudan," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(13), pages 2727-2736, October.
    8. Yan Zhang & Andrew Grant & Ashok Sharma & Donghui Chen & Liang Chen, 2010. "Alternative Water Resources for Rural Residential Development in Western Australia," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(1), pages 25-36, January.
    9. Siddiqi, Afreen & Anadon, Laura Diaz, 2011. "The water-energy nexus in Middle East and North Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 4529-4540, August.
    10. Ward, S. & Barr, S. & Butler, D. & Memon, F.A., 2012. "Rainwater harvesting in the UK: Socio-technical theory and practice," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(7), pages 1354-1361.
    11. Schueftan, Alejandra & González, Alejandro D., 2013. "Reduction of firewood consumption by households in south-central Chile associated with energy efficiency programs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 823-832.
    12. Eichelberger, L.P., 2010. "Living in utility scarcity: Energy and water insecurity in Northwest Alaska," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(6), pages 1010-1018.
    13. Nogueira Vilanova, Mateus Ricardo & Perrella Balestieri, José Antônio, 2014. "Energy and hydraulic efficiency in conventional water supply systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 701-714.
    14. Liang, Sai & Zhang, Tianzhu, 2011. "Interactions of energy technology development and new energy exploitation with water technology development in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 6960-6966.
    15. Kennedy, Christopher & Corfee-Morlot, Jan, 2013. "Past performance and future needs for low carbon climate resilient infrastructure– An investment perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 773-783.
    16. Chiu, Yie-Ru & Liaw, Chao-Hsien & Chen, Liang-Ching, 2009. "Optimizing rainwater harvesting systems as an innovative approach to saving energy in hilly communities," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 492-498.
    17. Bart Bruggen & Karolien Borghgraef & Chris Vinckier, 2010. "Causes of Water Supply Problems in Urbanised Regions in Developing Countries," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(9), pages 1885-1902, July.
    18. Olanike Aladenola & Omotayo Adeboye, 2010. "Assessing the Potential for Rainwater Harvesting," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(10), pages 2129-2137, August.
    19. Angela Arpke & Neil Hutzler, 2006. "Domestic Water Use in the United States: A Life‐Cycle Approach," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 10(1‐2), pages 169-184, January.
    20. Soytas, Ugur & Sari, Ramazan & Ewing, Bradley T., 2007. "Energy consumption, income, and carbon emissions in the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 482-489, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Oz Sahin & Rodney Stewart & Fernanda Helfer, 2015. "Bridging the Water Supply–demand Gap in Australia: Coupling Water Demand Efficiency with Rain-independent Desalination Supply," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(2), pages 253-272, January.
    2. de Oliveira, Glauber Cardoso & Bertone, Edoardo & Stewart, Rodney A., 2022. "Optimisation modelling tools and solving techniques for integrated precinct-scale energy–water system planning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    3. Suzanne Dallman & Anita M. Chaudhry & Misgana K. Muleta & Juneseok Lee, 2016. "The Value of Rain: Benefit-Cost Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting Systems," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(12), pages 4415-4428, September.
    4. Djukic, Malisa & Jovanoski, Iljcho & Ivanovic, Olja Munitlak & Lazic, Milena & Bodroza, Dusko, 2016. "Cost-benefit analysis of an infrastructure project and a cost-reflective tariff: A case study for investment in wastewater treatment plant in Serbia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1419-1425.
    5. De Stercke, Simon & Mijic, Ana & Buytaert, Wouter & Chaturvedi, Vaibhav, 2018. "Modelling the dynamic interactions between London’s water and energy systems from an end-use perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 615-626.
    6. Olanike Aladenola & Adrian Cashman & Douglas Brown, 2016. "Impact of El Niño and Climate Change on Rainwater Harvesting in a Caribbean State," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(10), pages 3459-3473, August.
    7. Wakeel, Muhammad & Chen, Bin & Hayat, Tasawar & Alsaedi, Ahmed & Ahmad, Bashir, 2016. "Energy consumption for water use cycles in different countries: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 868-885.
    8. de Oliveira, Glauber Cardoso & Bertone, Edoardo & Stewart, Rodney A., 2022. "Challenges, opportunities, and strategies for undertaking integrated precinct-scale energy–water system planning," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Sharifi, Ayyoob & Yamagata, Yoshiki, 2016. "Principles and criteria for assessing urban energy resilience: A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1654-1677.
    10. Sahin, Oz & Stewart, Rodney A. & Giurco, Damien & Porter, Michael G., 2017. "Renewable hydropower generation as a co-benefit of balanced urban water portfolio management and flood risk mitigation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P2), pages 1076-1087.
    11. Ahmad, Shakeel & Jia, Haifeng & Chen, Zhengxia & Li, Qian & Xu, Changqing, 2020. "Water-energy nexus and energy efficiency: A systematic analysis of urban water systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Kate Smith & Shuming Liu & Yi Liu & Dragan Savic & Gustaf Olsson & Tian Chang & Xue Wu, 2016. "Impact of urban water supply on energy use in China: a provincial and national comparison," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 1213-1233, December.
    13. Bao, Bin & Chen, Wen & Wang, Quan, 2019. "A piezoelectric hydro-energy harvester featuring a special container structure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    14. Ziyi Wang & Zengqiao Chen & Cuiping Ma & Ronald Wennersten & Qie Sun, 2022. "Nationwide Evaluation of Urban Energy System Resilience in China Using a Comprehensive Index Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-36, February.
    15. Shiguang Chen & Hongwei Sun & Qiuli Chen & Song Liu & Xuebin Chen, 2023. "An Innovative Approach to Predicting the Financial Prospects of a Rainwater Harvesting System," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(8), pages 3169-3185, June.
    16. Molinos-Senante, María & Sala-Garrido, Ramón, 2017. "Energy intensity of treating drinking water: Understanding the influence of factors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 275-281.
    17. Smith, Kate & Liu, Shuming & Liu, Ying & Guo, Shengjie, 2018. "Can China reduce energy for water? A review of energy for urban water supply and wastewater treatment and suggestions for change," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 41-58.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nogueira Vilanova, Mateus Ricardo & Perrella Balestieri, José Antônio, 2015. "Exploring the water-energy nexus in Brazil: The electricity use for water supply," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 415-432.
    2. Zhang, Xiaohong & Qi, Yan & Wang, Yanqing & Wu, Jun & Lin, Lili & Peng, Hong & Qi, Hui & Yu, Xiaoyu & Zhang, Yanzong, 2016. "Effect of the tap water supply system on China's economy and energy consumption, and its emissions’ impact," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 660-671.
    3. Wakeel, Muhammad & Chen, Bin & Hayat, Tasawar & Alsaedi, Ahmed & Ahmad, Bashir, 2016. "Energy consumption for water use cycles in different countries: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 868-885.
    4. Md. Islam & F. Chou & M. Kabir & C. Liaw, 2010. "Rainwater: A Potential Alternative Source for Scarce Safe Drinking and Arsenic Contaminated Water in Bangladesh," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(14), pages 3987-4008, November.
    5. Gu, Alun & Teng, Fei & Lv, Zhiqiang, 2016. "Exploring the nexus between water saving and energy conservation: Insights from industry sector during the 12th Five-Year Plan period in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 28-38.
    6. Khan, Zarrar & Linares, Pedro & García-González, Javier, 2017. "Integrating water and energy models for policy driven applications. A review of contemporary work and recommendations for future developments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1123-1138.
    7. Wanjiru, Evan M. & Xia, Xiaohua, 2015. "Energy-water optimization model incorporating rooftop water harvesting for lawn irrigation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 521-531.
    8. Meng, Fanxin & Liu, Gengyuan & Liang, Sai & Su, Meirong & Yang, Zhifeng, 2019. "Critical review of the energy-water-carbon nexus in cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1017-1032.
    9. Wang, Can & Zheng, Xinzhu & Cai, Wenjia & Gao, Xue & Berrill, Peter, 2017. "Unexpected water impacts of energy-saving measures in the iron and steel sector: Tradeoffs or synergies?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1119-1127.
    10. Dima Nazer & Maarten Siebel & Pieter Van der Zaag & Ziad Mimi & Huub Gijzen, 2010. "A Financial, Environmental and Social Evaluation of Domestic Water Management Options in the West Bank, Palestine," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(15), pages 4445-4467, December.
    11. Soto-García, M. & Martin-Gorriz, B. & García-Bastida, P.A. & Alcon, F. & Martínez-Alvarez, V., 2013. "Energy consumption for crop irrigation in a semiarid climate (south-eastern Spain)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1084-1093.
    12. Ahmad, Shakeel & Jia, Haifeng & Chen, Zhengxia & Li, Qian & Xu, Changqing, 2020. "Water-energy nexus and energy efficiency: A systematic analysis of urban water systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    13. Campisano, Alberto & Modica, Carlo, 2012. "Optimal sizing of storage tanks for domestic rainwater harvesting in Sicily," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 9-16.
    14. Dagnachew Adugna & Marina Bergen Jensen & Brook Lemma & Geremew Sahilu Gebrie, 2018. "Assessing the Potential for Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting from Large Public Institutions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-11, February.
    15. Daniel Sklarew & Jennifer Sklarew, 2018. "Integrated Water-Energy Policy for Sustainable Development," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 12(4), pages 10-19.
    16. Fang, Delin & Chen, Bin, 2017. "Linkage analysis for the water–energy nexus of city," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 770-779.
    17. Vilanova, Mateus Ricardo Nogueira & Magalhães Filho, Paulo & Balestieri, José Antônio Perrella, 2015. "Performance measurement and indicators for water supply management: Review and international cases," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-12.
    18. Shang, Yizi & Hei, Pengfei & Lu, Shibao & Shang, Ling & Li, Xiaofei & Wei, Yongping & Jia, Dongdong & Jiang, Dong & Ye, Yuntao & Gong, Jiaguo & Lei, Xiaohui & Hao, Mengmeng & Qiu, Yaqin & Liu, Jiahong, 2018. "China’s energy-water nexus: Assessing water conservation synergies of the total coal consumption cap strategy until 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 643-660.
    19. Sharifzadeh, Mahdi & Hien, Raymond Khoo Teck & Shah, Nilay, 2019. "China’s roadmap to low-carbon electricity and water: Disentangling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electricity-water nexus via renewable wind and solar power generation, and carbon capture and sto," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 31-42.
    20. Valeria Puleo & Mariacrocetta Sambito & Gabriele Freni, 2015. "An Environmental Analysis of the Effect of Energy Saving, Production and Recovery Measures on Water Supply Systems under Scarcity Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-15, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:34:y:2014:i:c:p:225-242. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.