Rainwater harvesting system installations required to offset new water demand created by growing populations in Broward and Palm Beach Counties: A dataset for decision making based on numbers of installations, costs, and water and energy savings

This article presents yearly data for the period 2020–2060 on estimates for population growth and associated numbers of new and existing single-family detached homes to be fit or retrofit with rainwater harvesting (RWH) system equipment for lawn irrigation in order to continuously offset new water demand created by new residents in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, Florida. Annual data on financing costs for capital equipment and its replacement and savings in amounts of groundwater and associated water supply energy amounts and costs are also provided. The methods for determining and using the data presented in this article, along with related data, for the purpose of analyzing the feasibility of a widely-deployed residential rainwater harvesting (RWH) system in a heavily populated region in Southeast Florida are discussed in detail in Wurthmann [1]. The data presented here can be used by policy makers as a decision support tool for assessing broad outcomes related to population and single-family housing growth in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. They can also be used for more circumscribed outcomes related to developing implementation plans and assessing capital and financing costs and savings in water and energy amounts and costs for countywide RWH system installations. The data were derived from various expert projections, data from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Florida Department of Revenue and Property Tax, American Water Resources Association (AWRA), South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Energy Information Administration (EIA), and vendors of RWH system equipment, and customized calculations developed in Wurthmann [1].