1st International Conference on Rain Water Cistern Systems
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA - June 1982

Section 3: Design, Cost, And Policy

Page 227

Rain Water Cistern System Impact on Institutional Policy

Yu-Si Fok
University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA

Introduction

The adaptation of the rain water cistern system ill have a definite impact on institutional policy. To promote the adaptation of this type of system, Fok and Murabayashi (1979) indicated that, in water shortage areas, some incentive measures-such as tax credits-would produce results and require a new institutional policy.

Another impact is related to cistern water quality, which is a matter of concern to many public health officials. Because the cistern catchment area could be polluted by natural or artificial pollutants the rain water collected and stored in the cisterns may not be fit for human consumption. Therefore, Fok (1980) reported that in California a ruling as made that prohibited the use of roof-catchment cistern water for drinking for other human consumption uses.

Because rain water cistern systems are considered structures, the safety of these systems is another matter of concern. Thus, their impact on existing building codes, which may not be applicable to cisterns imposes another impact on institutional policy.

The impact of cistern systems on institutional policies and their acceptability to users requires investigation. In this paper, examples of rain water cistern system impacts on institutional policies are discussed and presented as suggestions for further investigation and consideration.

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