Sustainable Rainwater Management and Life Cycle Assessment: Challenges and Perspectives

Abstract

Rainwater harvesting is a promising technique for more rational water use. However, its sustainability merits remain a subject of ongoing debate among researchers. Life cycle assessment (LCA), a method employed to measure the environmental impact of varying solutions, is helpful in this regard. Accordingly, this paper delivers an integrative review based on the PRISMA protocol, outlining challenges and potential avenues for the LCA application to rainwater harvesting. The central findings indicate that while residential buildings are most commonly examined, more consensus is needed on a uniform analytical framework. Furthermore, several benefits of rainwater are often not considered in LCA and need further exploration to understand possible synergies for its broader implementation. Finally, LCA integration with a life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) shows exciting results as it may be a more straightforward showcase of the benefits of an integrated assessment. It is concluded that specific details of the LCA of rainwater harvesting may still be simplistic. There is much work to be done in holistic assessments to prove the system’s sustainability.