Rainwater Harvesting in Buildings in Brazil: A Literature Review

Abstract

This article presents a literature review on rainwater usage in buildings in Brazil. It focuses on economic, environmental and social impacts. The legislation related to rainwater harvesting -including the cities that have made such a practice mandatory -was also assessed. The literature review was based on a search strategy that uses protocols to find and select studies about the main subject, i.e., rainwater harvesting in buildings. The protocols were defined as the site to be investigated (buildings), the intervention (rainwater harvesting), and the expected result (influence on the potable water consumption). Despite the variation of water availability in the country, it was concluded that there is a high potential for potable water savings when using rainwater in buildings in Brazil. Finally, it was observed the need for financial investments in experimental research and innovation technologies in order to improve rainwater management.

A City Wide Assessment of the Financial Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting in Mexico City

“…Smaller “distributed” systems and networks can complement centralized systems to increase redundancy and resilience. For water supply, roof rainwater harvesting (RWH) and water reuse at the building or neighborhood scales are forms of decentralized systems that have potential as supplementary water sources (examples in Ghisi ; Eroksuz and Rahman ; Domènech and Saurí ; Rygaard et al ; Rostad et al ; Ghisi et al ; Ennenbach et al , and many others). Globally, the adoption of RWH is strongly influenced by economic constraints and local regulations (Campisano et al ).…”

Análise De Viabilidade Técnica E Econômica De Um Sistema De Aproveitamento De Aguas Pluviais Para Fins Não Potáveis Em Uma Instituição De Ensino Federal Em Pernambuco

“…Em razão da percepção dos benefícios do uso da água pluvial ser pequena, quando comparada ao seu potencial, a viabilidade técnica e econômica da implantação de sistemas de aproveitamento de águas pluviais para fins não potáveis em instituições de ensino têm sido alvo de estudos em todo o Brasil (GHISI et al, 2018). Esses estudos visam otimização do volume dos reservatórios de acumulação para tornar o sistema menos oneroso, de modo que se supra o maior volume de demanda hídrica não potável possível, a partir do regime pluviométrico de cada região.…”