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An Innovative Approach to Predicting the Financial Prospects of a Rainwater Harvesting System

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Abstract

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems are one of the most promising technologies for water supply, but the economic viability often barricades their implementation. To assess the economic viability of decentralized RWH systems at a regional level, this paper develops a generic method to investigate the effect of variations in building characteristics on the economic performance of rainwater harvesting systems in regions with fixed water tariffs and rainfall distribution characteristics. We simulated the financial efficiency (expressed as a benefit-cost ratio) of a large number of decentralized RWH systems in Guangzhou, China. We found that the financial efficiency of the RWH systems is closely related to the catchment fraction (i.e., the ratio of rainfall catchment surface to total floor area). Based on this dimensionless parameter, we derived explicit equations expressing the financial efficiency of RWH systems using a nonlinear regression method. In addition, we validated the analytical equations by the root mean square error test, normality test, and error distribution test. This analytical solution provides a simple and generic method for forecasting the investment potential of rainwater harvesting systems. This methodology can also be adapted to other regions where the variations in local water price and rainfall data need to be considered.

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All relevant data to support the results of this study are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Key scientific research project of Guangdong University (Grant numbers:2018KTSCX100).

Funding

This work was supported by the Key scientific research project of Guangdong University (Grant numbers:2018KTSCX100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Urban and Rural Construction, ZhongKai University of Agriculture and Engineering, 510225, Guangzhou, China

    Shiguang Chen, Hongwei Sun, Qiuli Chen, Song Liu & Xuebin Chen

Authors
  1. Shiguang Chen
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  2. Hongwei Sun
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  3. Qiuli Chen
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  4. Song Liu
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  5. Xuebin Chen
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by S G Chen, H W Sun, and Q L Chen. The first draft of the manuscript was written by S G Chen. The production of the charts and proofreading of the text were carried out by S Liu and X B Chen respectively, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shiguang Chen.

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Table S2

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Chen, S., Sun, H., Chen, Q. et al. An Innovative Approach to Predicting the Financial Prospects of a Rainwater Harvesting System. Water Resour Manage 37, 3169–3185 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-023-03495-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-023-03495-z

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