Tangki NAHRIM 2.0: An R-based water balance model for rainwater harvesting tank sizing application

Abstract

Tangki NAHRIM, a desktop application developed in 2008, is widely used for the calculation of optimal tank size for rainwater harvesting in Malaysia. Here we present an overview of the updated version, Tangki NAHRIM 2.0 (TN2) which was developed in the R computing environment. In TN2, a rainwater harvesting system is simulated using a daily water balance model with rainfall input from a built-in database by adopting the yield-after-spillage (YAS) convention. Proposed tank sizes are evaluated based on water saving and storage efficiencies. These results are then visualised in charts showing the relationships between tank sizes and both efficiency measures to help users select the optimal tank size based on their criteria of choice. A simulation was conducted based on a typical Malaysian household for domestic non-potable use as a case study. A web-based GUI for TN2 was developed in R Shiny framework for the public. The GUI has the advantage of being accessible online from any device, and will be able to facilitate the adoption of rainwater harvesting systems by the public at large.