CP-1995-06
The role of RWCS in 21st century water management.
Fok, Yu-Si
Rainwater catchment systems (RWCS) are age-old water supply systems that will regain their position in diverse forms to complement centralized public water systems in the 21st century. Regardless of the level of development, many public water supply systems have already shown their inability to expand fast enough to meet the ever-increasing demand for water. As a result, water management decision makers have made efforts to find complementary ways of providing and conserving water. RWCS stands out as a practical solution. Users could develop their own RWCS to become self-sufficient in water, or at least to alleviate water shortage impacts. This paper explores the role of RWCS in 21st century water management with viewpoints from the public and private sectors reflecting social, economic, environmental, and institutional concerns. Also, this paper proposes the integration of RWCS with other renewable resource collection systems in designing new sustainable structures for the 21st century.