Urban rainwater utilization: A review of management modes and harvesting systems

Abstract

Due to the impact of climate change and rapid urbanization, issues around global urban flood control and water environment security have emerged as major global concerns. As a practical way to address these issues, exploitation of urban rainwater resources has become a worldwide hotspot for research and application. This paper 1) briefly examined the evolution of rainwater utilization management modes in advanced countries, 2) classified urban rainwater utilization measures from the utilization stages into three categories—source control, medium transmission, and terminal treatment, 3) summarized the advantages, disadvantages, and scope of the application of these measures, 4) reviewed the benefits, drawbacks, and application areas of these measures, and 5) conducted a quantitative analysis of their impact on rainwater pollution and flood control.

Balancing development and sustainability: Assessing risks and protecting aquatic biodiversity on US college and university campuses

“…The ACEP utilized only three types of green infrastructure—rain gardens, green roofs, and pervious surfaces—yet showed significant benefits to stormwater management on the CTX campus. Other green infrastructure practices, such as rainwater harvesting, bioswales, and urban tree canopies have shown significant potential in improving aquatic conditions and may improve ecological conditions in campus watersheds even further (Pataki et al, 2021; Xiao et al, 2017; Xu et al, 2023). It is important to note that the impervious cover, TSS, and runoff for the CTX scenarios were reported on a watershed scale (Figure 5).…”

Challenges and Solutions for Global Water Scarcity

“…In addition, RWH systems have limited water supply potential and are substantially more expensive than centralized systems [ 14 ]. Recent review articles on RWH are available [ 12 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”

The effect of green stormwater infrastructures in urban tier human thermal comfort—a case study in high-density urban blocks

“…In the past ten years, the acceleration of urban development and the release of anthropogenic heat have led to an increasing urban heat island effect (Oke et al 2017), and this enhanced effect has become an urgent obstacle to sustainable development, affecting the morbidity and mortality caused by heat stress in the surrounding environment (Chapman et al 2017;Souverijns et al 2022), the cooling demand of indoor spaces (Santamouris 2020;Xu et al 2023b), as well as the degradation of air quality, deterioration of the water environment, and disturbance of biological habitats. Therefore, by means of forecasting, determining feasible measures in the urban environment to reduce the impact of the UHI can provide a scienti c reference for future sustainable urban development and planning.…”

“…Common technologies applied in the construction of SCs include green stormwater infrastructures (GSIs), which have different types and scales. Implementation forms of GSI at the urban block scale include roof greening, vertical greening (VG), green spaces, bioretention facilities, and permeable pavements (PP) (Gong and Hu 2017;Xu et al 2023b). Because the location of GSI is not limited to the ground, it is more exible in high-density urban areas.…”