As global climate patterns shift, methods of sustainable water management are being put to the test. In this context, we recently published a manuscript in the journal Water (MDPI) that provides a comprehensive assessment of how climate change will affect the reliability of Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RHS) across 652 Brazilian cities. The project is a partnership between Cura-Lab and researchers from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) and the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil. Some key points from the research:
🔹 Large-Scale Analysis: We evaluated performance across diverse climates using 19 different Global Climate Models (GCMs) to account for future uncertainties (using CLIMBra database from USP).
🔹 Social Impact: The study focuses on low-income housing archetypes (60 m² roof areas), where water savings aren’t just an environmental plus; they may be a vital component of household economic resilience.
🔹 Efficiency Gains (and Losses): The findings highlight how changing seasonality and prolonged dry spells will dictate the future potential for potable water savings, emphasising that a “one size fits all” design and/or understanding is no longer viable.
🔹Regional disparities: Differences across regions of the country were observed, highlighting the need to tailor public policies to local characteristics.
The Bottom Line: Decentralised water solutions are essential for the cities of tomorrow, but they must be understood in the envelope of future possible climates. Engineering today requires us to look beyond historical data and embrace probabilistic modelling to ensure that sustainable infrastructure remains effective (and feasible) in a 1.5°C or 2°C warmer world.
🔗 Read the full open-access paper here: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/18/7/792