Quality and seasonal variation of rainwater harvested from concrete, asphalt, ceramic tile and green roofs in Chongqing, China

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThere is an urgent requirement to examine the quality of harvested rainwater for potable and nonpotable purposes, based on the type of roofing material. In this study, we examined the effect on the quality of harvested rainwater of conventional roofing materials (concrete, asphalt and ceramic tile roofs) compared with alternative roofing materials (green roof). The results showed that the ceramic tile roof was the most suitable for rainwater-harvesting applications because of the lower concentrations of leachable pollutants. However, in this study, the green roof was not suitable for rainwater harvesting applications. In addition, seasonal trends in water quality parameters showed that pollutants in roof runoff in summer and autumn were lower than those in winter and spring. This study revealed that the quality of harvested rainwater was significantly affected by the roofing material; therefore, local government and urban planners should develop stricter testing programs and produce more weathering resistant roofing materials to allow the harvesting of rainwater for domestic and public uses.

Effect of Green Roof Configuration and Hydrological Variables on Runoff Water Quantity and Quality

“…Similar results were obtained for organic matter (Figure 8), phosphorus, and coliforms, with concentrations for GRs that were significantly higher than the control cases' concentrations (Table 3). These are similar to results presented in previous studies, indicating GRs as a source of organic matter [7,46], phosphorus [22,24,25,47,48], pathogens [48], and total dissolved solids [1,30], as well as the pH neutralization effect from GRs [1,22,25,26,31,[49][50][51][52]. GRs had significantly higher concentrations for total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrates, and nitrites than the control cases, confirming the findings of Aitkenhead-Peterson et al [46], Greogoire and Clausen [53], Moran et al [54], and Whittinghill et al [55].…”

The capacity of greening roof to reduce stormwater runoff and pollution

“…use of fertilizers) (Berndtsson, 2010). In our study, the green roof was not being fertilized; however, we chose a substrate (soil mix consisting of 40% peat soil, 30% vermiculite, 20% perlite, and 10% sawdust) that was high in nitrogen (Zhang et al, 2014), therefore, we believe that the higher concentrations of TN, NH 4 + -N and NO 3 − -N originated mainly from the substrate layer. The green roof also increased the concentrations of TOC and COD in stormwater runoff.…”

Variação da qualidade da água de chuva com a precipitação: aplicação à cidade de Santa Maria - RS

“…De um modo geral, a qualidade da água da chuva é influenciada pelas condições atmosféricas locais e pela superfície por onde a água escoa antes de ser captada. As características da precipitação também podem influenciar a quantidade de impurezas carregadas pela água de chuva após a sua passagem por uma superfície de captação (SCHETS et al, 2010;TORRES et al, 2013;ZHANG et al, 2014). Além disso, o descarte de uma parcela inicial da água escoada pode influenciar as características da água restante a ser armazenada (GIKAS; TSIHRINTZIS, 2012; LEE; BAK; HAN, 2012;MENDEZ et al, 2011).…”