This estimator calculates the net makeup water a vertical farm may need over a selected planning period. It starts with active grow area and gross daily water use per square foot, then reduces that amount by the share of water that is recovered and reused within the system.
The output can support water-supply planning, tank sizing, operating budgets, and comparisons between recirculation strategies. The gross water-use rate should reflect the crop mix and environmental conditions being modeled. Condensate recovery, purge water, cleaning, leaks, and product water removal can all change the real requirement.
1. Enter active grow area
Use the planted or production area tied to your gross water-use rate.
2. Enter gross daily water use
Provide gallons used per square foot per day before crediting recaptured water.
3. Enter recovery percentage
Enter the share of gross water that is recovered and reused in the farm.
4. Choose the planning period
Enter the number of days you want to estimate.
5. Review net makeup water
The result shows the estimated external water needed after recovery is applied.
Where:
Assumptions: inputs describe the same system, batch, or planning period, and units are used exactly as labeled. The model is intentionally simple and does not add unentered losses, fees, or biological effects.
The result is the estimated makeup water needed after the entered recovery percentage is credited.
This is a mass-balance estimate and does not separately model cleaning water, leaks, or emergency drain-and-refill events.
Given:
Calculation:
12,500 × 0.16 × 30 × (1 − 0.72) = 16,800 gal
Result:
Net water requirement = 16,800 gal
Interpretation:
The farm would need about 16,800 gallons of makeup water over 30 days at the entered recovery rate.
Include only water that is actually captured, treated as needed, and returned to production. Do not count water that leaves with product, purge streams, cleaning, or unrecovered leaks.
The calculator allows it mathematically, which produces zero net makeup water. Real systems generally have unavoidable losses, so use a recovery figure supported by actual operation.
Include it only if your gross gallons-per-square-foot-per-day figure was built to cover cleaning. Otherwise estimate cleaning and sanitation demand separately.
Keep area, gross water-use rate, and days constant, then change only the recovery percentage. The difference in net gallons shows the modeled water-saving effect.
Not by itself. Tank sizing also depends on peak demand, refill rate, reserve requirements, and operational contingencies.