Design of a Rainwater Catchment System

• Main Author: Neil Cammardella
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of South Florida 2011-01-01
• Series: Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two
• Subjects: Environmental Conservation, Water Supply, Rainfall
• Online Access: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ujmm/vol4/iss1/6

Certain dimensions of a rainwater catchment and storage system were optimized using climatological and sociological data. Using only daily demand and average daily rain fall data, the following dimensions were optimized: 1) The horizontal roof area needed to collect the daily demand of water, 2) The tank size needed to store all the water collected during a heavy rain event, 3) When full, how long the tank will be able to provide water without rain, and 4) The diameter of the outlet flow orifice. With these calculations, we can design a rainwater catchment system that can capture the daily demand and store excess water for use during periods of low rain.