Rainwater harvesting in schools in Taiwan: system characteristics and water quality

摘要

In order to understand the current status of rainwater harvesting (RWH) practices in Taiwan’snschools, a study was carried out to examine the RWH system performance, water usage,nand water quality in these sites. A total of 29 schools in various regions were selected fornthis investigation, including 7 in the northern, 7 in the central, 8 in the southern, and 7 in theneastern regions of Taiwan. Water quality indicators tested were: pH, temperature, conductivity,noxidation-reduction potential, suspended solid, total organic carbon, fecal coliform, and totalncoliform. From this study, it was found that RWH systems in these sites generally had twondifferent designs: one that collected rainwater only, and one that collected both rainwaternand grey water. From statistical analysis, it was found that water quality indicators suchnas suspended solids, total organic carbon, and fecal coliform were significantly affectednby the water source and site location. Fecal coliforms in most of the sites we studied werenhigh and not qualified for toilet flushing. The average water retention time of 2.4 monthsnwas long and considered to be the main reason to cause high fecal coliform counts. Finally,nthe benefit analysis was conducted to evaluate economic feasibility of rainwater harvestingnfor these schools. It turned out that 20% of them were able to gain economic benefitsnfrom using rainwater.