![]() ![]() ![]() RWH contributes to water resource sustainability by offsetting surface and ground water consumption and by reducing environmental and human health impacts compared to conventional sources. The importance of managing the holistic water balance, including blue water (surface/ground water), green water (rainwater) use, and annual precipitation and their relationship to RWH are also addressed. In addition to investigating watershed-scale impacts of RWH adoption, which few studies have addressed, potential life cycle cost savings due to reduced cumulative energy demand were scaled in each watershed for a more comprehensive analysis. ![]() Building upon previous LCAs of near-optimal domestic and agricultural RWH systems in the region, we scaled functional unit LCIA scores for adoption rates of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% and compared these to conventional municipal water and well water systems. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) categories included energy demand, fossil fuel, metals, ozone depletion, global warming, acidification, smog, blue and green water use, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, and human health effects. We evaluated the impacts of domestic and agricultural rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in three watersheds within the Albemarle-Pamlico river basin (southeastern U.S.) using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost assessment. ![]()
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