title: Quality and seasonal variation of rainwater harvested from concrete, asphalt, ceramic tile and green roofs in Chongqing, China.
abstract: There is an urgent requirement to examine the quality of harvested rainwater for potable and non-potable purposes, based on the type of roofing material. In this study, we examined the effect on the quality of harvested rainwater of conventional roofing materials (concrete, asphalt and ceramic tile roofs) compared with alternative roofing materials (green roof). The results showed that the ceramic tile roof was the most suitable for rainwater-harvesting applications because of the lower concentrations of leachable pollutants. However, in this study, the green roof was not suitable for rainwater harvesting applications. In addition, seasonal trends in water quality parameters showed that pollutants in roof runoff in summer and autumn were lower than those in winter and spring. This study revealed that the quality of harvested rainwater was significantly affected by the roofing material; therefore, local government and urban planners should develop stricter testing programs and produce more weathering resistant roofing materials to allow the harvesting of rainwater for domestic and public uses.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Science, Shijiazhuang 050061, China.
authors: Qianqian
authors: Q
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: wangxk@rcees.ac.cn.
authors: Xiaoke
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors: Peiqiang
authors: P
authors: Hou
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; College of Life Science, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050016, China.
authors: Wuxing
authors: W
authors: Wan
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors: Ruida
authors: R
authors: Li
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors: Yufen
authors: Y
authors: Ren
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors: Zhiyun
authors: Z
authors: Ouyang
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011891:Rain / Q000737:chemistry*; D012621:Seasons; D060753:Water Quality; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*
keywords: Rainwater harvesting; Roof management; Roofing material; Seasonal variation; Water quality