Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-78). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [42]-46)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (Leaves: [77]-81)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-51)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 41-42)

An emerging field in rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the application of communal rainwater harvesting system. This system's main advantage compared to individual RWH is the centralization of water treatment, which some users of individual RWH find difficult to maintain. Despite alleviating one concern, this communal approach does not increase the RHW system's (RWHS) reliability nor necessarily satisfy all water demands, and hence is not a major improvement in terms of system performance. This research tackles this challenge with a novel approach to communal RWH for single-family houses. Instead of the traditional communal approach to RWH which uses only one storage location, we propose connecting multiple single-family homes' RWHSs to a communal backup tank, i.e., capturing overflow from multiple RWHS, which will increase reliability and water demand met in a way that will significantly improve the current performance of communal RWH. The proposed system will potentially maximize the availability of potable water while limiting spillage and overflow. We simulated the performance of the system in two cities, Houston and Jacksonville, for multiple private and communal storage combination. Results show that volumetric reliability gains, of 1.5% - 6% and 1.5% - 4%, can be achieved for seven to ten and six to seven connected households, respectively, for Houston and Jacksonville if the emphasis is on volumetric reliability (VR). As per total storage capacity, the system achieves higher VR gains for lower total storage capacity in Houston while the system achieves higher VR gains for higher total storage capacities in Jacksonville. With regards to the total cost of ownership per household for the individual system and for the communal storage system, the lifecycle cost of the system was performed using the Net Present Value (NPV) method, with an interest rate of 7% over 30 years. The NPV of the total system costs per household in the city of Houston is lowest for nine to ten connected households, as well as comparable to the base case of a rainwater harvesting system that is not connected to a communal tank for seven and eight connected households. This communal system is more resilient and can be a worthy addition to water and stormwater infrastructures, especially in the face of climate change. / Doctor of Philosophy / An emerging field in rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the application of communal rainwater harvesting system. This system's main advantage compared to individual RWH is the centralization of water treatment, which some users of individual RWH find difficult to maintain. Despite alleviating one concern, this communal approach does not increase the RHW system's (RWHS) reliability nor necessarily satisfy all water demands, and hence is not a major improvement in terms of system performance. This research tackles this challenge with a novel approach to communal RWH for single-family houses. Instead of the traditional communal approach to RWH which uses only one storage location, we propose connecting multiple single-family homes' RWHSs to a communal backup tank, i.e., capturing overflow from multiple RWHS, which will increase reliability and water demand met in a way that will significantly improve the current performance of communal RWH. The proposed system will potentially maximize the availability of potable water while limiting spillage and overflow. We simulated the performance of the system in two cities, Houston and Jacksonville, for multiple private and communal storage combination. Results show that volumetric reliability gains, of 1.5% - 6% and 1.5% - 4%, can be achieved for seven to ten and six to seven connected households, respectively, for Houston and Jacksonville if the emphasis is on volumetric reliability (VR). As per total storage capacity, the system achieves higher VR gains for lower total storage capacity in Houston while the system achieves higher VR gains for higher total storage capacities in Jacksonville. With regards to the total cost of ownership per household for the individual system and for the communal storage system, the lifecycle cost of the system was performed using the Net Present Value (NPV) method, with an interest rate of 7% over 30 years. The NPV of the total system costs per household in the city of Houston is lowest for nine to ten connected households, as well as comparable to the base case of a rainwater harvesting system that is not connected to a communal tank for seven and eight connected households. This communal system is more resilient and can be a worthy addition to water and stormwater infrastructures, especially in the face of climate change.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Sc.(Agronomy)) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / The changes in climate, especially poor rainfall patterns and distributions are key issues posing major agricultural challenges for food security and threaten the rural livelihoods of many communities in the Limpopo Province. Rainfall (P) is low and limited. These limited P is mostly lost through runoff and evaporation, which result in low soil moisture availability and possible crop failure. Therefore, techniques that reduce these water losses are important for improving dryland crop production and rainwater productivity (RWP). The objectives of this study were to determine the potential and effectiveness of rainwater harvesting and conservation techniques (RWH&CT’s) to conserve and improve plant available water (PAW) for dryland maize production and also determine the efficiency of the RWH&CT’s to improve dryland maize yield and RWP compared to conventional tillage (CON). The study was conducted over a period of two growing seasons (2008/09; 2009/10) using maize as indicator crop at the Towoomba Research Station of the Limpopo Department of Agriculture in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, on an Arcadia ecotope. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design, with four replications and five treatments. The five treatments used in the study were; conventional tillage (CON), No-till (NT), In-field rainwater harvesting (IRWH), Mechanized basins (MB) and Daling plough (DAL). The IRWH and DL were classified as rainwater harvesting techniques (RWHT’s), whilst MB and NT were classified as water conservation techniques. Two access tubes were installed at each treatment to measure the soil water content (SWC) at four different soil depths of 150, 450, 750 and 1050 mm using the neutron water meter. The data collected included climatic data, soil and plant parameters. The data were subjected to analysis of variance through NCSS 2000 Statistical System for Windows and GENSTAT 14th edition. Mean separation tests were computed using Fisher's protected least significant difference test. The SWC of IRWH, DAL and MB were about 510 and 490 mm higher compared to CON and NT treatment during the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons, respectively. The PAWT of the IRWH, MB and DAL was significantly different from the CON treatment during the 2008/09 season. For both seasons the biomass yield of the IRWH treatment was significantly different from the NT treatment, producing 23 and 50% more biomass in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 growing seasons, respectively. The grain yield under IRWH was significantly different from the NT treatment during both 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons. The highest maize grain yield of IRWH was achieved during the 2009/10 season with 56% higher grain yield than the NT treatment. RWP from various RWHT’s were significantly different from the NT treatment. These results indicate that IRWH and DAL were 12 and 2% more effective in converting rainwater into harvestable grain yield than the CON treatment. R2 values of 68.6 and 78.4% for SWC and transpiration (Ev) were obtained when correlated with maize grain yield respectively. This indicates the importance of moisture conservation for improved dryland maize production under low P areas. Therefore, the use of appropriate RWHT’s by smallscale farmers maybe crucial to improve dryland maize production. IRWH outperformed all other treatments in terms of the soil parameters and plant parameter measured during the period of this study. Therefore, these results suggest IRWH has potential of sustaining maize yields under low rainfall conditions. Key words: Rainwater harvesting, conservation techniques, ecotope, rainwater productivity, maize yield, precipitation use efficiency.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 52-55)

Distributed water conservation provides significant benefits to overall water availability, particularly if adopted at a large scale. Conservation strategies, such as rainwater harvesting, xeriscaping, and permeable pavements are desirable because they conserve water, increase recharge near dwellings, and reduce dangerous stormwater runoff. Though conserving water is an admirable goal, justifying retrofits for water conservation mechanisms to existing structures is difficult because water prices are very low in much of the United States. However, stormwater regulations and the increasing implementation of stormwater utilities by cities enable other avenues of adoption for these practices. This thesis reviews water conservation strategies, examines local and state policies, and presents a “model policy”. The model policy design uses a comparative approach to identify useful incentives and aggregates best management and policy practices from several states to serve as a guide and accelerate implementation. / text