IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v39y2025i10d10.1007_s11269-025-04196-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Probabilistic Models for Optimal Rainwater Harvesting Tank Sizing: a Comparison with Traditional Approaches

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Gloria Di Chiano

    (D.I.C.A. Politecnico di Milano)

  • Mariana Marchioni

    (D.I.C.A. Politecnico di Milano
    Montana S.p.A)

  • Gianfranco Becciu

    (D.I.C.A. Politecnico di Milano)

Abstract

With growing water scarcity and increasing variability in rainfall patterns due to climate change, along with the pressures of urbanization and population growth, the adoption of non-conventional water resources such as rainwater harvesting and water reuse has become a crucial sustainable strategy. Traditional approaches to the design of rainwater tanks, based on the demand volume in a predefined dry period, don’t take into account properly the risk of failure. Two probabilistic methods are then proposed, to address this issue. The first method is a modification of the conventional “demand-side” approach, by the use of a probabilistic estimation of the inter-event time. The second one, more reliable and more complex, takes into account in a parametric way the full stochastic rainfall process, allowing to consider also the pre-filling possibility due to consecutive storm events. Complexity in this second method is managed in order to develop direct relationships for practical applications. Although enough simple, these methods improve the design of Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RWHs), allowing to apply cost-benefit analysis procedures. Methods are compared and evaluated through the application to a case study in Milan, Italy.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Gloria Di Chiano & Mariana Marchioni & Gianfranco Becciu, 2025. "Probabilistic Models for Optimal Rainwater Harvesting Tank Sizing: a Comparison with Traditional Approaches," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 39(10), pages 5211-5225, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:39:y:2025:i:10:d:10.1007_s11269-025-04196-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-025-04196-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11269-025-04196-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-025-04196-5?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. Nandi, Santosh & Gonela, Vinay, 2022. "Rainwater harvesting for domestic use: A systematic review and outlook from the utility policy and management perspectives," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Abdul Salam Khan, 2023. "A Comparative Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting System and Conventional Sources of Water," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(5), pages 2083-2106, March.
    3. Katarzyna Wartalska & Martyna Grzegorzek & Maciej Bełcik & Marcin Wdowikowski & Agnieszka Kolanek & Elżbieta Niemierka & Piotr Jadwiszczak & Bartosz Kaźmierczak, 2024. "The Potential of RainWater Harvesting Systems in Europe – Current State of Art and Future Perspectives," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 38(12), pages 4657-4683, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Katarzyna Wartalska & Martyna Grzegorzek & Maciej Bełcik & Marcin Wdowikowski & Agnieszka Kolanek & Elżbieta Niemierka & Piotr Jadwiszczak & Bartosz Kaźmierczak, 2024. "The Potential of RainWater Harvesting Systems in Europe – Current State of Art and Future Perspectives," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 38(12), pages 4657-4683, September.
    2. Douglas Alves & Rita Teixeira & José Baptista & Ana Briga-Sá & Cristina Matos, 2025. "Optimal Rainwater Harvesting System for a Commercial Building: A Case Study Focusing on Water and Energy Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Rambonilaza, Tina & Rulleau, Bénédicte & Assouan, Epiphane, 2023. "On sharing the costs of public drinking water infrastructure renewal among users with different preferences," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Igor Catão Martins Vaz & Rodrigo Novais Istchuk & Tânia Mara Sebben Oneda & Enedir Ghisi, 2023. "Sustainable Rainwater Management and Life Cycle Assessment: Challenges and Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Flora Silva & Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros & António Albuquerque & Jorge Pedro Lopes & Ana Maria Antão-Geraldes, 2023. "Technical and Financial Feasibility Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting Using Conventional or Green Roofs in an Industrial Building," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Youssef Kassem & Hüseyin Gökçekuş & Aşkın Kiraz & Abdalla Hamada Abdelnaby Abdelnaby, 2025. "Integrating Rainwater Harvesting and Solar Energy Systems for Sustainable Water and Energy Management in Low Rainfall Agricultural Region: A Case Study from Gönyeli, Northern Cyprus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-42, September.
    7. Safaa Ahmed & Mike Jesson & Soroosh Sharifi, 2025. "A Novel, Ecology-Inclusive, Hybrid Framework for Rainwater Harvesting Site Selection in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 39(5), pages 2419-2439, March.
    8. Rodrigo Novais Istchuk & Enedir Ghisi, 2022. "Financial Feasibility Analysis of Residential Rainwater Harvesting in Maringá, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, October.
    9. Tina Rambonilaza & Bénédicte Rulleau & Epiphane Assouan, 2023. "On sharing the costs of public drinking water infrastructure renewal among users with different preferences," Post-Print hal-04214560, HAL.

    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:spr:waterr:v:39:y:2025:i:10:d:10.1007_s11269-025-04196-5. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.