Using rainwater for irrigation, hard furface & façade cleaning at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana’s campus (Bogota)

Abstract

Rainwater collection for domestic uses represents an interesting practice from the economical and environmental point of view. However, this solution is adopted due to the threat of the scarcity of water resources; it is not neutral from a sanitary perspective. This paper presents an analysis of the economical and technical viability of the its use as an alternative for irrigation purposes, as well as cleaning of facades and hard areas in the campus of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia). Three main aspects are developed in the paper: (i) estimation of the available rainwater volumes and the possible collection points; (ii) preliminary quality analysis of the collected rainwater; (iii) estimation of the construction costs for the basic infrastructure required to collect rainwater and estimation of the monetary savings obtained with the proposed solution. The results suggest that the use of rainwater is economically and technically viable, and that it may contribute with a sustainable management and development of the University’s campus.