Abstract
Rainwater harvesting is increasingly recognized as an important source of water supply. However, the technique is practiced for very different purposes depending on region and rainfall conditions. In this study, the performance of rainwater harvesting was evaluated in accordance with local user practice to determine its suitability as a primary water supply. A water balance model using a long-term time series was applied to simulate system behavior under various scenarios of tank size and monsoon patterns in the Asian tropical monsoon region, investigated at 111 sites in Vietnam. The results of the study show that a limited range of 20–110 L/d can meet basic demand with 95% reliability. However, an additional water of 50–400 L/d is available for extra supply during rainy season. The diversity of monsoon patterns leads to considerable variation of additional available water (AAW) despite uniform amounts of annual precipitation. Tank size is recognized as playing a crucial role in improvement of supply capacity for basic demand while roof area and precipitation exerts a higher influence on AAW.
