Rooftops Rainwater Harvesting Estimation in Aired and Semiarid Regions Using Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Techniques

Sousa City–Libya, As A Case Study

Abstract

Libya locates within the arid and semi-arid regions, and faces like other countries of the world serious problems of water shortage as a result of climate changes, low levels of groundwater, surface water scarcity, and population growth. For that purpose searching for alternative economic water sources in Libya is necessary. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of rooftops rainwater harvesting to cover human consumption in Sousa city, because Sousa city being one of the Libyan cities with the highest of monthly rainfall. Whereas, GIS and remote sensing techniques were count on to calculate the amounts of rooftops rainwater harvesting in the city with the help of Google Earth and ArcGIS10.5 software. The study results expose that, the harvesting rainwater cumulatively from the rooftops per year is 3329989.06 m³ and covers about 36.4% of the demand for potable water for the city’s residents. Finally this study recommendations are, should be used the rooftops rainwater harvesting to cover human consumption, as it needs simple techniques to purify, which also helps to reduce the pressure on drainage networks, to get rid of the problems of traffic congestion in cities during rainy seasons, and reducing the epidemics and diseases. In addition use of rainwater collected in irrigation and agriculture or groundwater recharge. Governments and authorities adopt the system of rooftops rainwater harvesting, and this is done by encouraging citizens, public and private construction companies, and providing the necessary for its implementation