Effects of Storage Container Color and Shading on Water Temperature

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a method of capturing rainfall from a catchment surface and storing it for later use. Though it has been around for thousands of years, its popularity and use has been increasing in recent years and water quality within RWH systems has become a concern. Water temperature is a parameter of water quality and storage container color and shading affect this temperature. Four different colors and three different shadings were applied to twelve rainwater storage barrels. Water temperature of these barrels was measured over twenty weeks during a Texas summer. During the initial ANOVA model, it was determined that the color and shade variables had an interaction and thus both together had an effect on the water temperature. Though the individual treatment variables could not be analyzed and compared statistically, the trends showed that light colors and higher shading caused lower water temperatures in the storage containers. Also, the color had more pronounced effect than shading on water temperature inside the barrels.