Stormwater Harvesting Benefits
Water shortages and the longer-term security of water supply for our communities are serious concerns for Australia, particularly in light of recent droughts which effected the large parts of the country. Research shows stormwater runoff from urban areas could provide more than 50% of urban demand for non-potable water. The challenge is, how to efficiently capture and store this resource.
Many cities around the world are moving towards Blue-Green Infrastructure solutions that not only manage excess stormwater but also provide multiple economic, environmental and social benefits.
Stormwater harvesting has the potential to play a significant role in the sustainable management of world water resources.
Schemes can provide multiple benefits, such as improving public amenity through the provision of green spaces, as well as environmental benefits such as reducing pollutants discharged to downstream waterways.
Stormwater Harvesting achieves the principles of integrated water management within the space constraints of an urban environment and reduces the volume of stormwater run-off to local drains and waterways, cools down our environment and helps to ease the risk of flooding. it also reduces the impact of pollution on water quality and stream flow and helps to meet the water conservation objectives.
Stormwater Harvesting also forms part of our response to the climate change - making local infrastructure more resilient and sustainable while addressing the principles of a circular economy. By using harvested stormwater for non-potable applications, the governments can delay the need for expensive systems such as desalination and recycled wastewater.
Within the wider Integrated Water management framework there are some clear objectives for the development of effective rainwater/stormwater harvesting systems such as:
- Improved liveability of urban areas
- Reconnecting communities to the natural water cycle through innovative urban design
- Enhanced local amenity, best addressing community expectations
- Increased natural cooling and reduction in the heat island effect
- Preserves the natural hydrologic regime of catchments, waterways and creeks
- Improved habitat for invertebrates, frogs, insects, waterbirds, reptiles and other animals
- Enhanced diversity of local flora (plants)
- Drought-proofing the public and private spaces in urban areas
Through the implementation of effective stormwater harvesting scheme, local communities and co-systems will see the following long and short-term benefits:
- reduces the demand for drinking water by replacing it with harvested stormwater
- reduction in stress on urban streams and rivers by capturing and filtering pollutants and nutrients that would otherwise enter the stormwater flow
- enable users to access an alternative source of water for non-drinking use, and
- an increase in the opportunities for sustainable water management
Stormwater harvesting if properly designed, constructed, and maintained can become an effective tool in protecting ecosystems, water quality improvement, creating liveable communities and securing our environment and water supply for generations to come.
IV Water offers a range of solutions to assist with stormwater harvesting from domestic scale to multi-megalitre systems. Our stormwater harvesting solutions can be designed to meet your performance and budget requirement.