Government Rainwater Program to Open up New Market

During the year, the government will be presented with an action plan for the rational use of water resources. The goal is to manage water resources according to the basin principle, develop river resource management plans, and implement them at the state level.

"After consideration by the government, the plan will be presented to the President. The opinions of the departments are being studied," said Mutallim Abdulhasanov, head of the water resources management department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan.

Azersu OJSC is discussing the creation of a separate structure for the collection and use of rainwater for technical purposes, the department reported.

The government decided to take up the implementation of last year's instructions of the President of Azerbaijan, who at the government meeting was outraged that no one calculates the water balance in the presence of several state structures related to water - the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Agency for Water Resources under the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Azersu, and the State Committee for Land Reclamation. However, the government did not have data on how much fresh water Azerbaijan possesses and consumes. Only the Academic Institute of Geography has roughly calculated that the total flow of all fresh water in Azerbaijan per year is 30 cubic kilometers (30 billion cubic meters) and most of this flow is lost.

On average, one person uses 150-200 liters of water per day while living in an apartment, without the need to water the garden and wash the car (1.5-2 million cubic meters in 10 million Azerbaijan). Most of this volume can be replaced with technical, cheap water, since the practice of drinking water is vital only for drinking and cooking (about 5% of the daily value), for personal hygiene (30%) and washing dishes (20%). When washing (15% of the daily water consumption), operating the sewerage system (30%) and other household needs, instead of drinking water, you can use rainwater, which, due to its softness, is better suited for household needs.

In developed countries, rainwater harvesting occurs at the level of private and public buildings. The rainwater collected in the container is used to irrigate plants, wash cars, and after cleaning and filtering are used as food. The market offers a variety of household rainwater collection, storage and treatment systems, consisting of downpipes, plastic containers, pumps and filters.

Azerbaijan has not yet gone beyond collecting rainwater from the roof into metal barrels for watering the garden. All car wash points in Baku, gardens and public gardens use drinking water for irrigation. There are no water pipelines for industrial water in the capital.

If the government in Azerbaijan undertakes the construction of urban rainwater harvesting systems, then it would be more correct, based on demographic and economic characteristics, to focus on the experience of Turkey. This country is ahead of Azerbaijan in the prevalence of technologies for the economical use of solar energy and wind. And decrees on rainwater are adopted almost simultaneously.

On January 26, 2021, the Turkish Ministry of Ecology and Urban Development issued a decree on the mandatory equipment of buildings with rainwater harvesting systems. “Taking into account the growing threat of drought, it is necessary to create rainwater collection systems on the roofs of all buildings built on plots of more than two thousand square meters, as well as equip underground storage tanks,” the order says.

Aişe Gül Tanık, professor of environmental technology at Istanbul Technical University, explained that "airports, shopping centers, businesses, hospitals and schools are the most suitable buildings for collecting water because they have a much larger roof area than a conventional residential building."

According to the expert, the collected rainwater can be used for cleaning, irrigation, and flushing systems in toilets. It is estimated that the cost of constructing the rainwater storage facility will pay off in about two years.

Applying the experience of Turkey to Azerbaijan, it is easy to notice that in our country the payback of the widespread construction of a rainwater collection system will not differ slightly from Turkey. The largest volume of rainwater is used in the largest cities in the country, where the population is larger. Let's compare the climatic features of Istanbul and Baku. In Istanbul during the years, the rainiest month is March (14.3 days). There are only 3.8 rainy days in August (minimum). In Baku, the month with the highest number of rainy days is November (11.1 days). The month with the lowest number of rainy days is August (2.8 days). But 1 cubic meter of water is more expensive than in Turkey - 1 manat.

Since February 2021, the price of drinking water and sewerage services in Azerbaijan has doubled. Azerbaijanis pay 1 manat per cubic meter of water and sewage. In Turkey, the price for 1 cubic meter of drinking water in 2020 is 3.64 Turkish liras (0.8 manats). The new water tariff in Azerbaijan makes a profitable market for the sale of rainwater collection and use systems in private houses for 1-2 families, of which there are a lot in the suburbs of Baku. In the future, developers of large houses selling apartments may be interested in such systems based on apartment buildings.