THE EFFICIENCY OF RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS IN THE LEBANESE COASTAL ZONE

Authors

Kareem Galal, Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University, Design & Built Environment, Tripoli, LebanonFollow

Abstract

Water conservation is one of the most important trends within sustainable applications in the world today. The global fresh water demand has increased by 1% per year since the 1980s, and it is estimated that it will continue increasing at this rate until 2050. Therefore, utilizing the available rain water has become a vital parameter for most of the world's countries that lie within the water demand red-zone. Lebanon is moving toward the water demand red-zone rapidly, which has prompted the consideration of rain water harvesting (RWH) systems in the last ten years. The variety in precipitation in the different Lebanese climatic zones has made it essential to examine the efficiency of this project in the Coastal Zone in comparison with the actual water demand. This research focuses on (RWH) and the low-requirements of the water filtering process, such as flushing and irrigation water to reduce the effects of the quality and economic factors. The theoretical approach and experimental case studies were applied to obtain a tangible result regarding RWH efficiency in this Lebanese climatic zone. The research determines estimated values for the RWH volume rate per unit area and for each mm of the annual rainfall average, in addition to the area that could be irrigated for each mm of the annual rainfall average per unit area of the catchment surface. The research also determines the aspects that affect the RWH systems efficiency generally and in Lebanese Costal zone specifically. The economical aspects tackled in the research help to estimate approximate cost for RWH overall systems or specific components of RWH systems in Lebanon, which lead to calculate the payback factor of the investment.

Keywords

Rain Water Harvesting - Lebanese Coastal Zone - Rainfall - Water demand - Precipitation

Disciplines

Architecture | Arts and Humanities | Education | Engineering

Recommended Citation

Galal, Kareem (2020) "THE EFFICIENCY OF RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS IN THE LEBANESE COASTAL ZONE," Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ): Vol. 26: Iss. 1, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54729/2789-8547.1028