Simple and effective filtration system for drinking water production from harvested rainwater in rural areas

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) for drinking water production has been a potential solution to mitigate water scarcity in rural areas. There was limited research focusing on the quality of treated rainwater. This study developed and tested the quality of a drinking water filtration system (DWFS) for treating harvested rainwater to support rural communities. Physiochemical and microbial quality assessments of first flush, pre-filtered and filtered rainwater over 12 months of the experiment were investigated. The findings are: (1) the first flush system used in this study (diameter of 90 mm and length of 1 m) showed a marked improvement in roof harvested rainwater quality (by about 75%), (2) the quality of the harvested rainwater could meet drinking water guidelines once treated by DWFS, which could eliminate harmful pathogens but bypass other essential constituents at permissible levels (e.g., suspended solids, dissolved compounds, metals and nutrients), and (3) the configured system offered a drinking water production capacity of 60 L/h. It should be noted that the configured filter would need adjustments to be adopted in a different region.