Rainwater Harvesting for Irrigation of Tennis Courts: A Case Study

It has become evident that, during this century, climate change will continue, affecting all regions of the planet. The expected impacts over the next few decades may differ from region to region, with some areas becoming humid and others drier. In regions such as the Mediterranean basin, the main expected impacts of climate change will be prolonged droughts and an increase in the intensity and frequency of heavy rains. Measures of mitigation and adaptation are particularly important in urban environments, where more than half of the population lives, and rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS) are considered to be a very suitable solution to these problems. However, the published studies have mainly focussed on buildings, with very limited references to the interest of its application in large urban infrastructure. Based on consumption and precipitation data, this article presents a study on the implementation of an RWHS in a large-scale sports infrastructure located in the city of Cascais (Portugal) intended for the practice of tennis, with 12 brick dust fields, some of them covered. The average annual consumption of potable water for watering the tennis courts is 5500 m(3), and the results show that the RWHS can reduce this consumption by >50%, in addition to other expected benefits, such as the known effect of these systems in reducing flood peaks in the area.

Automated summary

It is evident that climate change will continue to affect all regions of the planet this century, with varying impacts across different areas. Measures of mitigation and adaptation are crucial in urban environments, and rainwater harvesting systems have been considered a suitable solution. However, existing studies have largely focused on buildings and there is limited research on the application of these systems in larger urban infrastructures.