2012 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 27-33
There has been little debate on the environmental load reduction effect by rainwater use until now. In this research, the environmental load reduction effect map by rain water use in Japan is proposed for consideration at the time of equipment design. The operational simulation was performed using the AMeDAS (Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System) 10-minute rainfall data in 2000 to 2009 and various kinds of statistical data. The amount of environmental load reduction by rainwater use was calculated for each city, ward, town, and village across the whole of Japan. The amount of tap water substitution (rainwater use) is greatly influenced especially in drought periods, when rainwater storage tank capacity is small. The environmental load reduction effect changes with precipitation patterns in each area, this means that the cost required in order to make tap water is greatly influenced. The results suggest that in order to attain the environmental load reduction by rainwater use, when designing equipment, a simulation which takes precipitation patterns, cost for making tap water, etc. into consideration is important.
