Reservoir volume optimization and performance evaluation of rooftop catchment systems in arid regions: A case study of Birjand, Iran

This study evaluated the performance of rooftop catchment systems in securing non-potable water supply in Birjand, located in an arid area in southeastern Iran. The rooftop catchment systems at seven study sites of different residential buildings were simulated for dry, normal, and wet water years, using 31-year rainfall records. The trial and error approach and mass diagram method were employed to optimize the volume of reservoirs in five different operation scenarios. Results showed that, during the dry water year from 2000 to 2001, for reservoirs with volumes of 200 to 20000 L, the proportion of days that could be secured for non-portable water supply was on average computed to be 16.4%−32.6% across all study sites. During the normal water year from 2009 to 2010 and the wet water year from 1995 to 1996, for reservoirs with volumes of 200 to 20000 L, the proportions were 20.8%−69.6% and 26.8%−80.3%, respectively. Therefore, a rooftop catchment system showed a high potential to meet a significant portion of non-potable water demand in the Birjand climatic region. Reservoir volume optimization using the mass diagram method produced results consistent with those obtained with the trial and error approach, except at sites #1, #2, and #5. At these sites, the trial and error approach performed better than the mass diagram method due to relatively high water consumption. It is concluded that the rooftop catchment system is applicable under the same climatic conditions as the study area, and it can be used as a drought mitigation strategy as well.