ROOFTOP RAINWATER COLLECTION, A SMALL SCALE WATER SUPPLY FOR DOMESTIC WATER USE

Abstract

Indonesia is a tropical country which has two seasons, i.e., wet and dry season. During wet season, some regions get flooded, such as Jakarta, Tangerang, Gresik, Jember, and Semarang. On the other hand, during dry season, some regions get drought. These two contrast situation happen annually. In Tangerang, for example, some communities have to pay about Rp. 450,000.00 per month for water they buy from water vendor, because they are not serviced by public water utilities (PDAM) and their own well get dry. In fact, the rainfall pattern in Indonesia, especially in Java Island is suitable for rainwater harvesting. Rainwater harvesting/collection has been practised in some places in the world to supply the water demand for domestic purposes, agriculture, as well as for livestock. Rainwater harvesting is a simple method in water source development which give some advantages such as supply the water demand for household and reduce the risk of flood caused by high rainfall intensity during wet season. In addition, rainwater harvesting might be appropriate in some places in Indonesia for small scale water supply. However, some considerations should be taken into account to apply rainwater harvesting, such as evaporation rate, rainfall pattern, and community affordability.