Analyse the impact of implementing rain water harvesting systems on Essay

Analyse the impact of implementing rain water harvesting systems on the stormwater system - Essay Example In Galway, high discharge rates can pose a great impact on both the vegetation and the organism within the ecosystem. This report, therefore, analyzes the impact of rainwater harvesting systems such as cisterns and rain barrels on stormwater as a solution to help reduce the volume of stormwater runoff and prevention of pollution to the existing stormwater. The basic components of residential and small commercial scales are; gutters and downspouts, catchment surface (roof), storage tanks, delivery systems, and water treatment for portable systems (Texas water development board 2005). Field observation is an integral part in the analysis. In analysis, identifying indicators can help in measuring the efficiency of rainwater harvesting techniques. The purpose of the analysis is to determine the amount of surface runoff that comes from each portion of land. The recorded volume from the runoff is then compared to the possible amount of water that could have been collected from the rooftops. The basic method used to calculate the amount of runoff from the structures as well as from the land surface is Q=A x C x I The area (A) in terms of acres was obtained by substitution of determining formulae on the applicable mathematics formulas. The intensity of the rainfall was determined by considering a two year one hour storm. The coefficient of runoff from the site was determined by using the weighted average coefficient. The rational method was employed in calculating the total volume of runoff from the land use. Secondly, the total volume collected from the roof is determined using the rational method. In such a case, the area of the roof represents the area value. The coefficient value of this case was determined to be 0.9. Research has it that the coefficient of the roof surface lies within the range 0.75 to 0.95. This implies that the structures can collect approximately 75-90% of the total amount of