Abstract
Rainwater harvesting is becoming popular in Australian cities. Often, a standard tank size is recommended by local authorities; for example in Sydney, a 3kL tank is recommended for detached houses by NSW Government as per BASIX regulation. This paper investigates the performance of a rainwater harvesting system in saving water using data from 162 different locations in Greater Sydney region. A combination of toilet, laundry and irrigation use is considered for three different tank sizes of 2kL, 3kL and 5kL. It has been found that the water savings in Greater Sydney region ranges from 38 kL to 47 kL for a 2kL tank size, 46 kL to 57 kL for a 3kL tank size and 55 kL to 77 kL for a 5kL tank size. It has also been found that a 5 kL tank is preferable to 2 kL and 3 kL as this can offer 20% to 64% more water savings. It has also been found that water savings vary notably at different locations across the Greater Sydney region, and hence a blanket recommended tank size may not be appropriate for the whole of Greater Sydney.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Adapting to Change: the Multiple Roles of Modelling: Proceedings of the 20th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM2013), 1-6 December 2013, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Publisher | The Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand Inc. |
| Pages | 2688-2694 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780987214331 |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
| Event | MSSANZ/IMACS Biennial Conference on Modelling and Simulation - Duration: 1 Dec 2013 → … |
Conference
| Conference | MSSANZ/IMACS Biennial Conference on Modelling and Simulation |
|---|---|
| Period | 1/12/13 → … |
