Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The management and treatment of airport rainwater in a water-scarce environment

  • Review
  • Published:
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water is a precious resource. Its demand is rising rapidly and has already exceeded the supply capacity of natural sources in many cities. Airports are spread over vast areas which are normally free from birds and pollution and thus offer immense opportunities for rainwater harvesting which could, to a large extent, meet their non-potable water requirements. This article reviews rainwater treatment procedures at various airports which not only provide a valuable resource for their own consumption but also prevent the entry of pollutants directly into the environment. It also discusses the models and approaches to assess the rainwater harvesting potential of airports on parameters of cost and reliability. It explains the stages involved in the rainwater harvesting systems and how some airports have implemented rainwater treatment systems. Finally, it identifies the gaps at various stages and discusses possible improvements in the near future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ACI Airports Council International (2011) Annual traffic data 2010 – passengers. http://www.aci.aero/Data-Centre/Annual-Traffic-Data/Passengers/2011-final. Accessed 21 Sep 2016

  • ACI (2012) Greenlight to glow. Airport World. http://www.airport-world.co.uk/home/item/1457-greenlight-to-grow

  • Adham A, Wesseling JG, Riksen M, Ouessar M, Ritsema CJ (2016) A water harvesting model for optimizing rainwater harvesting in the wadi Oum Zessar watershed, Tunisia. Agric Water Manag 176:191–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed W, Goonetilleke A, Gardner T (2010) Implications of faecal indicator bacteria for the microbiological assessment of roof-harvested rainwater quality in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Can J Microbiol 56(6):471–479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed W, Gardner T, Toze S (2011) Microbiological quality of roof-harvested rainwater and health risks: a review. J Environ Qual 40(1):13–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Airplanes BC (2010) Current market outlook: 2010–2029. Seattle, USA

  • Ali A, Wesseling JG, Riksen M, Ouessar M, Ritsema C (2016) Modelling and optimizing rainwater harvesting in the wadi Oum Zessar watershed, Tunisia. In: Proceedings of EGU general assembly conference abstracts, p 8948

  • AMEC (2014) Heathrow’s north-west runway sustainable drainage assessment. United Kingdom. http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Company/Static/PDF/Companynewsandinformation/07_Heathrow_3RNW_-_Sustainable_Drainage_Assessment.pdf. Accessed 20 Sep 2016

  • Angrill S, Farreny R, Gasol CM, Gabarrell X, Viñolas B, Josa A, Rieradevall J (2012) Environmental analysis of rainwater harvesting infrastructures in diffuse and compact urban models of Mediterranean climate. Int J Life Cycle Assess 17(1):25–42

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ariyananda T (2007) Rainwater harvesting for the urban buildings in Sri Lanka. In: Proceedings of subtropical green building international conference

  • Arnbjerg-Nielsen K, Willems P, Olsson J, Beecham S, Pathirana A, Gregersen IB, Madsen H, Nguyen V-T-V (2013) Impacts of climate change on rainfall extremes and urban drainage systems: a review. Water Sci Technol 68(1):16–28

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Asinjo D-A (2011) Environmental management at sustainable airport models. Research Papers. Paper 257. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1324&context=gs_rp. Accessed 20 Sep 2016

  • Barbetta PA (2008) Estatística aplicada às ciências sociais. Ed. UFSC

  • Basnayaka AP, Sarukkalige R (2011) Comparing hydrology and hydraulics surface routing approaches in modeling an urban catchment. In: Proceedings of international conference on environmental engineering and applications (ICEEA 2011)

  • Boelee E, Yohannes M, Poda J-N, McCartney M, Cecchi P, Kibret S, Hagos F, Laamrani H (2013) Options for water storage and rainwater harvesting to improve health and resilience against climate change in Africa. Reg Environ Change 13(3):509–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonton A, Bouchard C, Barbeau B, Jedrzejak S (2012) Comparative life cycle assessment of water treatment plants. Desalination 284:42–54

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Calijuri ML, do Couto EDA, da Fonseca Santiago A, de Arruda Camargo R, e Silva MD (2012) Evaluation of the influence of natural and anthropogenic processes on water quality in Karstic Region. Water Air Soil Pollution 223(5):2157–2168

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campisano A, Modica C (2012) Optimal sizing of storage tanks for domestic rainwater harvesting in Sicily. Resour Conserv Recycl 63:9–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campisano A, Modica C (2014) Selecting time scale resolution to evaluate water saving and retention potential of rainwater harvesting tanks. Proc Eng 70:218–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campisano A, Gnecco I, Modica C, Palla A (2013) Designing domestic rainwater harvesting systems under different climatic regimes in Italy. Water Sci Technol 67(11):2511–2518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho IdC, Calijuri ML, Assemany PP, Silva MDFM, Moreira Neto RF, Santiago AdF, Souza MHBd (2013) Sustainable airport environments: a review of water conservation practices in airports. Resour Conserv Recycl 74:27–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu Y-R, Liaw C-H, Chen L-C (2009) Optimizing rainwater harvesting systems as an innovative approach to saving energy in hilly communities. Renew Energy 34(3):492–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke A, Grant N, Thornton J (2009) Quantifying the energy and carbon effects of water saving. Full Technical Rep. No. CO167

  • Coutts A, Demuzere M, Tapper N, Daly E, Beringer J, Nury S, Broadbent A, Harris R, Gebert L, Nice K (2014) The impacts of harvesting solutions and WSUD on evaporation and the water balance and feedbacks to urban hydrology and stream ecology. Green cities and micro-climate. Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Monash University, Catholic University, Belgium

  • Cowden JR, Watkins DW, Mihelcic JR (2008) Stochastic rainfall modeling in West Africa: parsimonious approaches for domestic rainwater harvesting assessment. J Hydrol 361(1):64–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunio L, Sproul A (2009) Low energy pumping systems for rainwater tanks. In: Proceedings of Solar09, the 47th ANZES annual conference

  • Dai H, Zhang K, Xu X, Yu H (2012) Evaluation on the effects of deicing chemicals on soil and water environment. Proc Environ Sci 13:2122–2130

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Domènech L, Saurí D (2011) A comparative appraisal of the use of rainwater harvesting in single and multi-family buildings of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (Spain): social experience, drinking water savings and economic costs. J Clean Prod 19(6):598–608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagan ME, Miller NP, Girvin R, Maurice L (2011) Critical issues in aviation and the environment 2011: noise. Transportation Research E-Circular, (E-C148)

  • Eroksuz E, Rahman A (2010) Rainwater tanks in multi-unit buildings: a case study for three Australian cities. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(12):1449–1452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everett C, Geisser D, Walker K (1997) Deicing system at Syracuse: Winter operations, regulations, and water quality. In: Proceedings of AAEE 69th annual conference and exposition, Minneapolis/St. Paul

  • Fagan J, Reuter M, Langford K (2010) Dynamic performance metrics to assess sustainability and cost effectiveness of integrated urban water systems. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(10):719–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farreny R, Gabarrell X, Rieradevall J (2011) Cost-efficiency of rainwater harvesting strategies in dense Mediterranean neighbourhoods. Resour Conserv Recycl 55(7):686–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flato G, Marotzke J, Abiodun B, Braconnot P, Chou SC, Collins WJ, Cox P, Driouech F, Emori S, Eyring V (2013) Evaluation of climate models. In: Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. contribution of working group I to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, vol 5. Climate change 2013, pp 741–866

  • Fletcher TD, Deletic A, Hatt BE (2004) A review of stormwater sensitive urban design in Australia. Australian Water Association and the CSIRO, Monash University, Australia

  • HAIA Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (2009) Annual environment report. http://www.atlanta-airport.com/forms/airport/frmAirportInformationenvironmentOverview.aspx. Accessed 19 Sep 2016

  • Haines J, Alexander M (1975) Microbial degradation of polyethylene glycols. Appl Microbiol 29(5):621–625

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helmreich B, Horn H (2009) Opportunities in rainwater harvesting. Desalination 248(1–3):118–124

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Imteaz MA, Ahsan A, Naser J, Rahman A (2011a) Reliability analysis of rainwater tanks in Melbourne using daily water balance model. Resour Conserv Recycl 56(1):80–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imteaz MA, Shanableh A, Rahman A, Ahsan A (2011b) Optimisation of rainwater tank design from large roofs: a case study in Melbourne, Australia. Resour Conserv Recycl 55(11):1022–1029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imteaz M, Akbarkhiavi S, Hossain M (2013) Application of eTank for rainwater tank optimisation for Sydney metropolitan. In: Proceedings of 20th international congress on modelling and simulation (MODSIM), Adelaide

  • Imteaz MA, Matos C, Shanableh A (2014) Impacts of climatic variability on rainwater tank outcomes for an inland city, Canberra. Int J Hydrol Sci Technol 4(3):177–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imteaz MA, Paudel U, Ahsan A, Santos C (2015) Climatic and spatial variability of potential rainwater savings for a large coastal city. Resour Conserv Recycl 105:143–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imteaz MA, Sagar KA, Santos C, Ahsan A (2016) Climatic and spatial variations of potential rainwater savings for Melbourne (Australia). Int J Hydrol Sci Technol 6(1):45–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones MP, Hunt WF (2010) Performance of rainwater harvesting systems in the southeastern United States. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(10):623–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jungo E (2008) Dealing with de-icing: Zurich disposes of its de-icing effluents by means of irrigation. Airpt Int 41(1):32

    Google Scholar 

  • Karim MR, Rimi RA, Billah MS (2013) Reliability analysis of household rainwater harvesting tanks in the coastal areas of Bangladesh using daily water balance model. In: Proceedings of 20th international congress on modelling and simulation, pp 2639–2645

  • Karon A, Hanni K, Mohle-Boetani J, Beretti R, Hill V, Arrowood M, Johnston S, Xiao L, Vugia D (2011) Giardiasis outbreak at a camp after installation of a slow-sand filtration water-treatment system. Epidemiol Infect 139(05):713–717

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keraita B, Drechsel P, Konradsen F, Vreugdenhil RC (2008) Potential of simple filters to improve microbial quality of irrigation water used in urban vegetable farming in Ghana. J Environ Sci Health, Part A 43(7):749–755

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khastagir A, Jayasuriya N (2010) Optimal sizing of rain water tanks for domestic water conservation. J Hydrol 381(3):181–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klecka G, Carpenter C, Landenberger B (1993) Biodegradation of aircraft deicing fluids in soil at low temperatures. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 25(3):280–295

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen FB (2002) Defining sustainability in the aviation sector. Development 25:83

    Google Scholar 

  • Kus B, Kandasamy J, Vigneswaran S, Shon HK (2010) Analysis of first flush to improve the water quality in rainwater tanks. Water Sci Technol 61:421–428

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lane JL, De Hass DW, Lant PA (2011) Life cycle assessment of the Gold Coast urban water system. Urban Water Security Research Alliance. Technical Report No. 52

  • Lash D, Ward S, Kershaw T, Butler D, Eames M (2014) Robust rainwater harvesting: probabilistic tank sizing for climate change adaptation. J Water Clim Change 5(4):526–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lichtveld MY, Jones L, Smith A, Weinberg A, Weiner R, Arosemena FA (2012) Creating a sustainable cancer workforce: focus on disparities and cultural competence. In: Georgakilas AG (ed) Cancer prevention - from mechanism to translational benefits. InTech. http://www.intechopen.com/books/cancer-prevention-frommechanisms-totranslational-benefits/creating-a-sustainable-cancer-workforce-focus-on-disparities-andcultural-competence

  • Limited HA (2011) Towards a sustainable Heathrow—Heathrow airport. London Heathrow Airport

  • Liu W, Chen W, Peng C, Wu L, Qian Y (2015) A water balance approach to assess rainwater availability potential in urban areas: the case of Beijing, China. Water Sci Technol Water Supply 15(3):490–498

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lo KFA, Koralegedara SB (2015) Effects of climate change on urban rainwater harvesting in Colombo city, Sri Lanka. Environments 2(1):105–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Londra P, Theocharis A, Baltas E, Tsihrintzis V (2015) Optimal sizing of rainwater harvesting tanks for domestic use in Greece. Water Resour Manage 29(12):4357–4377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lye DJ (2009) Rooftop runoff as a source of contamination: a review. Sci Total Environ 407(21):5429–5434

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mun J, Han M (2012) Design and operational parameters of a rooftop rainwater harvesting system: definition, sensitivity and verification. J Environ Manage 93(1):147–153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neto RFM, Calijuri ML, de Castro Carvalho I, da Fonseca Santiago A (2012a) Rainwater treatment in airports using slow sand filtration followed by chlorination: efficiency and costs. Resour Conserv Recycl 65:124–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neto RFM, de Castro Carvalho I, Calijuri ML, da Fonseca Santiago A (2012b) Rainwater use in airports: a case study in Brazil. Resour Conserv Recycl 68:36–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nix SJ (1994) Urban stormwater modeling and simulation. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Oto N, Cobanoglu N, Geray C (2012) Education for sustainable airports. Proc Soc Behav Sci 47:1164–1173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palla A, Gnecco I, Lanza L, La Barbera P (2012) Performance analysis of domestic rainwater harvesting systems under various European climate zones. Resour Conserv Recycl 62:71–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poli R, Vanneschi L, Langdon WB, McPhee NF (2010) Theoretical results in genetic programming: The next ten year? Genet Program Evolvable Mach 11:285–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Proença LC, Ghisi E (2010) Water end-uses in Brazilian office buildings. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(8):489–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahman A, Keane J, Imteaz MA (2012) Rainwater harvesting in Greater Sydney: water savings, reliability and economic benefits. Resour Conserv Recycl 61:16–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribeiro EN, Julio MD, Junior WCDS, Irrazabal WU, Nolasco MA (2012) Rainwater characterisation and its potential use in a Brazilian airport plant. Int J Environ Eng 4(3):394–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig C, Casassa G, Karoly DJ, Imeson A, Liu C, Menzel A, Rawlins S, Root TL, Seguin B, Tryjanowski P (2007) Assessment of observed changes and responses in natural and managed systems. In: Climate change, pp 79–131

  • Ruble VM (2011) Status report on sustainable airports in the United States: case study of Chicago O’Hare international airport. Research Papers. Paper 105. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp/105. Accessed 20 Sep 2016

  • Sahoo BC, Panda SN (2014) Rainwater harvesting options for rice–maize cropping system in rainfed uplands through root-zone water balance simulation. Biosyst Eng 124:89–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sezgin N, Tonuk GU (2013) Anaerobic treatability of wastewater contaminated with propylene glycol. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 91(3):320–323

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silva Vieira A, Weeber M, Ghisi E (2013) Self-cleaning filtration: a novel concept for rainwater harvesting systems. Resour Conserv Recycl 78:67–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stankevičius M, Stankevičien R (2014) The treatment and handling systems of industrial pollutants which generated and discharged into surface runoff from airports. In: Proceedings of the international conference on environmental engineering. ICEE, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania, 22–23 May 2014. http://enviro.vgtu.lt. Accessed 18 Sep 2016

  • Steffen J, Jensen M, Pomeroy CA, Burian SJ (2013) Water supply and stormwater management benefits of residential rainwater harvesting in US cities. JAWRA J Am Water Resour Assoc 49(4):810–824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes J, Horvath A (2010) Life-cycle assessment of urban water provision: tool and case study in California. J Infrastruct Syst 17(1):15–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Switzenbaum MS, Veltman S, Mericas D, Wagoner B, Schoenberg T (2001) Best management practices for airport deicing stormwater. Chemosphere 43(8):1051–1062

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (2010) Rainwater harvesting with rain barrels. A “Take Care of Texas” guide. http://takecareoftexas.org/sites/default/files/publications/gi-383_3.pdf. Accessed 20 Sep 2016

  • Timms S, Slade J, Fricker C (1995) Removal of Cryptosporidium by slow sand filtration. Water Sci Technol 31(5):81–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomaz P, Tomaz P (2009) Aproveitamento de água de chuva em áreas urbanas para fins não potáveis. Oceania 65(4):5

    Google Scholar 

  • Vieira AS, Beal CD, Ghisi E, Stewart RA (2014) Energy intensity of rainwater harvesting systems: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 34:225–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vigilante M, Draper J, Wey C, McKenney K (2004) Critical issues in aviation and the environment: air quality. Washington, DC. https://www.nap.edu/read/21967/chapter/3#12. Accessed 18 Sep 2016

  • Vuong NM, Ichikawa Y, Ishidaira H (2016) Performance assessment of rainwater harvesting considering rainfall variations in Asian tropical monsoon climates. Hydrol Res Lett 10(1):27–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward S, Butler D, Memon FA (2012) Benchmarking energy consumption and CO2 emissions from rainwater-harvesting systems: an improved method by proxy. Water Environ J 26(2):184–190

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Water USEPAOO (2000) Preliminary data summary airport deicing operations (revised). DIANE Publishing, Collingdale

    Google Scholar 

  • Water S (2014) Adelaide airport stormwater scheme. http://www.sawater.sa.gov.au/SAWater/WhatsNew/MajorProjects/AdelAirportStormwaterScheme.htm

  • Youn S-G, Chung E-S, Kang WG, Sung JH (2012) Probabilistic estimation of the storage capacity of a rainwater harvesting system considering climate change. Resour Conserv Recycl 65:136–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Q, Mikkelsen PS, Halsnæs K, Arnbjerg-Nielsen K (2012) Framework for economic pluvial flood risk assessment considering climate change effects and adaptation benefits. J Hydrol 414:539–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zoppou C (2001) Review of urban storm water models. Environ Model Softw 16(3):195–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank his colleagues and the research directorate at his institution for their support during the writing of this review article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Faculty of Engineering, Mangosuthu University of Technology, P.O. Box 12363, Jacobs, Umlazi, Durban, 4026, South Africa

    A. T. Jaiyeola

Authors
  1. A. T. Jaiyeola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. T. Jaiyeola.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jaiyeola, A.T. The management and treatment of airport rainwater in a water-scarce environment. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 14, 421–434 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1122-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1122-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation