CEST2025

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has been identified as a viable solution to address water scarcity issues in various regions. This approach offers numerous benefits, including additional water supply, flood mitigation, and reduction in environmental footprint. Rainwater harvesting systems encompass a range of components, including collection, storage, distribution, and, when required, treatment. The harvested rainwater is utilized for diverse applications, such as toilet flushing, laundry, car washing, watering green spaces, and firefighting. Despite its documented success in urban settings, such as supermarkets, schools and office buildings, its utilization within industrial contexts remains limited. Conversely, harvested water can be employed in various industrial applications, including process water, cooling water, garden irrigation and firefighting. The implementation of rainwater harvesting in industrial buildings offers several advantages. By utilizing collected rainwater for non-potable purposes, industries can substantially reduce their reliance on municipal water supplies. This results in a reduction of water costs, as the use of rainwater eliminates the need to purchase water. In addition, rainwater is naturally soft and free of chemicals, making it ideal for a variety of non-potable uses such as irrigation, toilet flushing and cooling systems. Rainwater harvesting can enhance a company's sustainability performances and corporate social responsibility efforts, and by implementing such green initiatives, businesses can improve their reputation among environmentally conscious consumers and stakeholders. In this paper, a rainwater harvesting system has been presented for two table olive producing companies in Manisa-Akhisar region of Turkey. First, the information about the table olive production processes and the amount of water consumed in olive production is introduced. Technical information is then presented for the design of rainwater harvesting system. In order to determine the amount of rainwater to be harvested, the region's rainfall data is collected from the General Directorate of Meteorology and analyzed. The amount of rainwater that could be collected was calculated based on the rooftop area of the studied olive factories. The required storage tank volume was determined by considering the (monthly) water consumption of the facilities. The cost of the designed RWH system was determined and the period of economic return (i.e. payback period) on investment was calculated. The analysis showed that the investment is more feasible for companies where the amount of rainwater that can be collected from the roof is close to the monthly water consumption.