Elsevier

Urban Water

Volume 1, Issue 4, December 2000, Pages 355-359
Urban Water

Case study
The collection of rainwater from dome stadiums in Japan

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1462-0758(00)00028-5Get rights and content

Abstract

In 1998, the Ministry of Construction began to investigate rainwater utilization facilities throughout Japan, as part of a wider program of preserving the urban hydrological cycle. As a result, there has been increased recognition that it is important to utilize rainwater for the purpose of effective urban water control and water conservation. Under these circumstances, there will be more construction of rainwater utilization facilities. This paper describes the inspection of rainwater utilization at dome stadiums, which Takenaka Corporation have designed and constructed during the past 10 years in Japan. The dome stadium is a large-scale structure, where baseball games, concerts and various exhibitions are held. A large volume of water supply is needed at one time. Therefore, it is wise to utilize rainwater for the purpose of saving water supplies from a view of water resources in urban areas. Moreover, from the viewpoint of preserving the water environment and runoff control in urban areas, it is important to utilize rainwater. This paper states social background of construction, the outline, design methods, effects and views on the future of all dome stadiums.

Introduction

Recent urbanization has brought a change to the hydrological cycle in urban areas. Urbanization has increased impermeable areas. and developed urban areas have lost functions of rainwater storage and infiltration. In addition, recent climate conditions have resulted in an excess or a shortage of water supply. Torrential rain caused by the heat island phenomenon occurs mainly in urban areas resulting in excess runoff which does not enrich natural sources of water supply because it is rapidly translated to rivers by sewers in urban areas.

As one of the best countermeasures against a shortage or excess of water supply, rainwater utilization plays a very important role. Rainwater utilization can overcome a shortage of water supply, and it is very effective for runoff control and restoration of the hydrological cycle in urban areas. Moreover, there has been increasing recognition that it is important to recover the hydrological cycle for the purpose of sustainable development. Rainwater utilization is also effective for the restoration of the hydrological cycle.

This paper describes the characteristics, design method, and the effects of rainwater utilization at dome stadiums (Tokyo Dome, constructed in 1983; Fukuoka Dome, 1993; Nagoya Dome, 1997), which Takenaka Corporation constructed.

Table 1 gives outline details of the dome stadiums, and Fig. 1 shows the location of the dome stadiums in Japan.

Section snippets

Social background

Rainwater utilization facilities are mainly divided into two types. One is a small-scale facility called a “Ten-sui-son”, which stores rainwater from eaves gutters of a private home. The other is a large-scale facility like a dome stadium that is described in this paper. Ten-sui-son have been used for fire fighting water for a long time, being installed along streets. In the early 1980s, serious shortage of water supply occurred in various Japanese cities, and there has been increasing

Characteristics of dome stadiums

Common characteristics of the three domes described in the paper are as follows:

  • large-scale structures built in urban areas;

  • large roof areas compared with high-rise buildings;

  • multipurpose stadium with a capacity for a large number of spectators.

From the view of water resources and urban drainage, it is important to solve the problems of how to control the system to meet water demands and how to control stormwater. Table 2 shows an outline of rainwater utilization at each dome, and as shown in

Design method of rainwater storage

The design method of the dentention tank volume is as follows:

Step 1. Investigate annual rainfall data. It is necessary to investigate the rainfall data in the past in order to estimate annual rainfall in the future.

Step 2. Estimate required water quantity. Estimate the water volume of each event to be held in dome stadiums and the number of days of each even in a year.

Step 3. Analyse water balance. Construct a hydrograph and a water demand graph, compare with each other, and estimate water

Achievement of rainwater utilization

This section indicates the achievement of rainwater utilization measured from April 1993 to October 1994.

Conclusions

The outcome of the inspection of rainwater utilization at the three dome stadiums is that they were effective. Nevertheless, further monitoring and reporting are required in the future.

In 1998, the Ministry of Construction began to investigate rainwater utilization facilities throughout Japan, as part of a wider program of urban storm water management. The investigation is supposed to be carried out until 2000, and the details of the investigation are not only technical and economic issues but

References (3)

  • Takai, H. (1996). Report on planning and actual results of rainwater utilization at Tokyo Dome and Fukuoka...
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (74)

  • Assessment of rooftop rainwater harvesting in northern Jordan

    2019, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth
    Citation Excerpt :

    A study done at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, showed that runoff from a roof area of 38,700 m2, when collected and used for toilet flushing (Appan, 1999), covers 12.4% of the monthly water bill. Large-scale rainwater collection systems with roof areas of up to 5000 m2 are in place in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Fukuoka in Japan; the water collected is used to flush toilets and water plants (Zaizen et al., 1999; Villarreal and Dixon, 2005). In Berlin, at the Daimler Chrysler Potzdamer Platz, rainwater is collected from a roof area of 32000 m2, stored in a 3500 m3, and is used for flushing toilets and watering gardens (UNEP, 2002).

  • Evaluation of rainwater harvesting in Portugal: Application to single-family residences

    2015, Resources, Conservation and Recycling
    Citation Excerpt :

    In developed countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore or United States, RWH use is being promoted mainly to complement conventional systems for non-potable use, namely for toilet flushing, clothes washing, outside washes and irrigation (Herrmann and Schmida, 1999; CWWA, 2002; de Gouvello et al., 2005; UN-HABITAT, 2005; Brandes et al., 2006; Government of France, 2008; Kloss, 2008; Schets et al., 2010; Golay, 2011), but also for potable uses (e.g., Australia – MPMSAA, 2008). RWH is not limited to residential buildings and large scale systems are also found in collective housing and other types of buildings in countries such as Japan (Zaizen et al., 1999), the UK (Chilton et al., 1999; Hills et al., 2001) and Germany (UNEP, 2002). In Portugal, the DL 23/95 states that non-potable water use is authorized by the public water supplier exclusively for pavement washing, irrigation, firefighting and nonfood-related industrial production, provided that public health is safeguarded.

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text