Selling rainwater – how much can you earn?
Could rainwater become an additional source of income? For property owners with large roof areas, there may be an opportunity to collect rainwater and sell it to businesses that need water for irrigation, grounds maintenance and other purposes.
Make money from rainwater
The idea is not to produce drinking water. The business model involves collecting rainwater from roofs, passing it through a coarse filter to remove leaves and larger particles, storing it and selling it for purposes where drinking-water quality is not required.
But how much can you charge per litre? 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 is not to produce drinking water, but to filter out larger debris and store rainwater for sale to businesses that need water for irrigation, grounds maintenance and other purposes where drinking-water quality is not required.
But what could you charge per litre? 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. The price depends on factors such as local demand, water quality and how the customer accesses the water.
The following price levels can be used as a starting point when exploring the business opportunity:
| Price level | Per 1,000 litres | Per litre |
|---|---|---|
| Low | €0.50 | €0.0005 |
| Medium | €1.00 | €0.0010 |
| High | €2.00 | €0.0020 |
*These prices are illustrative figures for testing the business idea, not verified international market prices. They assume that buyers collect the water themselves.*
How much can you earn from selling rainwater?
Revenue depends on how many litres you can sell and the price 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 litres | €125 | €250 | €500 |
| 1 million litres | €500 | €1,000 | €2,000 |
| 5 million litres | €2,500 | €5,000 | €10,000 |
| 10 million litres | €5,000 | €10,000 | €20,000 |
These figures represent theoretical sales revenue before costs. The volumes are examples and are not linked to any particular 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 suppression and certain cleaning tasks.
- Farms and growers – for suitable irrigation purposes where the water quality meets the requirements.
- Industrial companies – for technical applications where drinking water is not needed.
One simple business model is to let customers collect the water themselves from a storage tank on your property and pay according to the measured volume. This keeps transport costs down and may improve profitability.
Is selling rainwater profitable?
Profitability depends on the volume sold in relation to the costs of collection, storage and operation.
You will need to consider investments in tanks, filters, pumps and water meters, as well as ongoing maintenance.
The business idea may be particularly interesting for large warehouses, industrial properties and other buildings with roof areas of around 1,000 m² or more. If some of the infrastructure is already in place, the required investment may be lower.
Bear in mind that regulations governing water sales vary between countries. Coarsely filtered rainwater may contain contaminants and must be suitable for the customer's intended use.
How much income could your roof generate?
To assess the business opportunity, you first need to know how much rainwater your property could potentially collect.
This is mainly influenced by the size of the roof and local rainfall, which can vary considerably between locations.
With RainTact, you can enter your property's exact address and roof area to receive a location-specific report showing how much rainwater your roof could collect.