What Are the Main Options for Applying the Multiple-Use Water Services Paradigm? - Rethinking Infrastructure Design for Multi-Use Water Services - page 30

Fig. 2 Main components of a typical rainwater harvesting system

system are the availability and cost of materials; labour cost; space availability;
local expertise for the construction of the system; consideration of local traditions
on water storage; climate conditions and catchment characteristics (Fig. 2 ).

4.1 New Build Versus Retrofit

Rainwater harvesting can be applied in most buildings but it is more suitable for
new constructions due to the fact that the installation of an underground tank could
be very expensive and may involve re-routing of some services as well as

fitting a

tank and filter in an existing drainage scheme will involve changes in the pipe

system (CGBC 2011 ).

4.2 What Is the Cost?

The cost of an RWH system is site-speci cantly depending on

size, type and complexity of the system. The cost of a rain barrel can differ based on
material and size, with a typical 50-gallon, plastic rain barrel to cost around $70
(US EPA 2013 ). For larger systems that do not have signi

c and varies signi

cant filtration or