Article
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Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Potential for Potable Water Savings Due to Rainwater use in a Precast Concrete Factory
Version 1
: Received: 4 January 2021 / Approved: 5 January 2021 / Online: 5 January 2021 (17:14:18 CET)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Bertuzzi, G.; Ghisi, E. Potential for Potable Water Savings Due to Rainwater Use in a Precast Concrete Factory. Water 2021, 13, 448. Bertuzzi, G.; Ghisi, E. Potential for Potable Water Savings Due to Rainwater Use in a Precast Concrete Factory. Water 2021, 13, 448.
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to assess the potential for potable water savings due to rainwater use in a precast concrete factory in southern Brazil. The economic feasibility and the rainwater quality were also assessed. The current water consumption, future water demand and rainwater demand in the factory were estimated. The future demand considered was two times higher than the current water consumption since there are plans to increase the production. Three scenarios were then simulated using the computer programme Netuno. The ideal rainwater tank capacity, the potential for potable water savings and the economic feasibility analysis for each scenario were estimated. Samples of rainwater were collected in the factory and tested for quality for manufacturing precast concrete. For a rainwater tank capacity equal to 25,000 litres, the potential for potable water savings for the first scenario was 55.4%, but the first scenario was considered economically unfeasible. For the same tank capacity, the second and third scenarios presented viable results regarding potable water savings and payback. As for the rainwater quality, it was proven to be adequate for manufacturing precast concrete. The main conclusion is that rainwater can be used to manufacture precast concrete in the factory studied herein.
Keywords
rainwater harvesting; rainwater quality; precast concrete; financial analysis; computer simulation
Subject
Engineering, Automotive Engineering
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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