Currently, the Southern California Metropolitan Water District and San Diego Water Authority provide rebates for high-efficiency water appliances...
» More
Currently, the Southern California Metropolitan Water District and San Diego Water Authority provide rebates for high-efficiency water appliances in single homes in San Diego as an incentive to reduce drought and the city’s dependence on imported water. However, these agencies do not provide rebates for rainwater catchment (RWC) system, a known alternative water-saving method that is practical and widely studied. This research examines the differences between investing in rainwater catchment (RWC) system and high efficiency water appliances for rebates. Its purpose is to address the question of whether rainwater catchment is a feasible investment for future rebates based on the three measures of environmental value, economic value, and social value that were calculated from precipitation records, product costs, benefit-cost ratio, and direct interview with Brook Sarson. The findings indicate that rainwater catchment is not sufficient to meet the high demands of single homes in San Diego. While rainwater catchment’s potential to reduce imported water consumption is not beneficial in terms of the amount of water saved and its benefit-cost ratio, it has high social value towards the water conservation efforts in San Diego.
