'World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society (WSEAS)'
Abstract
Most of the urban landscaped areas are watered with drinking water from the city utility. This
represents a waste of energy used to pump the water all the way into urban areas, as well as a waste of
chemicals and energy used to purify the water for human consumption. This paper analysis the feasibility of
harvesting rainwater over buildings in Mediterranean climate, and storing them, for use in irrigation. The
results indicate that a typical house can annually save between 3000 and 11000 l of water through rain
harvesting. A simulation model is elaborated that can calculate optimize the relation between catchment area,
irrigated area and tank size, based on daily rainfall and evapotranspiration of a five year period
