Selling rainwater – how much can you earn?
Could rainwater become an additional source of income? Property owners with large roof areas may have an opportunity to collect rainwater and sell it to businesses that need water for irrigation, landscaping, and other purposes.
Make money from rainwater
The idea isn't to produce drinking water. The business model involves collecting rainwater from rooftops, using coarse filtration to remove leaves and larger particles, storing the water, and selling it for purposes that don't require drinking-water quality.
But how much can you charge per liter? Who would want to buy the water? And could selling rainwater become a profitable business?
How much can you earn?
Collecting rainwater from large roof areas could provide property owners with an additional source of income.
The business idea isn't about producing drinking water. Instead, it involves filtering out larger debris and storing rainwater for sale to businesses that need water for irrigation, landscaping, and other applications that don't require drinking-water quality.
But how much could you charge per liter? Who would want to buy the water? And could selling it be profitable?
How much can you sell rainwater for?
There is no fixed international market price for collected rainwater. Pricing depends on factors such as local demand, water quality, and how customers access the water.
The following price levels can serve as a starting point for evaluating the business opportunity:
| Price level | Per 1,000 liters | Per liter |
|---|---|---|
| Low | €0.50 | €0.0005 |
| Medium | €1.00 | €0.0010 |
| High | €2.00 | €0.0020 |
*These prices are illustrative test figures, not verified international market prices. They assume buyers pick up the water themselves.*
How much can you make selling rainwater?
Your revenue depends on how many liters you can sell and what customers are willing to pay.
Here are some examples of potential annual revenue:
| Volume sold per year | €0.50/1,000 L | €1/1,000 L | €2/1,000 L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250,000 liters | €125 | €250 | €500 |
| 1 million liters | €500 | €1,000 | €2,000 |
| 5 million liters | €2,500 | €5,000 | €10,000 |
| 10 million liters | €5,000 | €10,000 | €20,000 |
These amounts represent theoretical sales revenue before expenses. The volumes are examples and aren't tied to any specific roof area.
Who might buy your rainwater?
There are several potential customer groups:
- Landscaping and grounds maintenance companies – for watering trees, shrubs, and planted areas.
- Parks and golf courses – for irrigating larger green spaces.
- Construction companies – for purposes such as dust control and certain cleaning tasks.
- Farms and agricultural growers – for appropriate irrigation applications where the water quality meets the requirements.
- Industrial companies – for technical applications that don't require drinking water.
One simple business model is to let customers pick up the water themselves from a storage tank on your property and pay based on the measured volume. This helps keep transportation costs down and may improve profitability.
Is selling rainwater profitable?
Profitability depends on how much water you sell compared with the costs of collection, storage, and operation.
You'll need to account for investments in tanks, filters, pumps, and water meters, along with ongoing maintenance costs.
The business idea may be especially interesting for large warehouses, industrial properties, and other buildings with roof areas of around 1,000 m² or more. If some of the necessary infrastructure is already in place, the initial investment may be lower.
Keep in mind that regulations for selling water vary by country. Coarsely filtered rainwater may contain contaminants and must be suitable for the customer's intended use.
How much income could your roof generate?
To evaluate the business opportunity, you first need to know how much rainwater your property could potentially collect.
This depends primarily on the size of your roof and local rainfall, which can vary significantly from one location to another.
With RainTact, you can enter your property's exact address and roof area to get a location-specific report showing how much rainwater your roof could collect.