Disinfection methods for domestic rainwater harvesting systems : a scoping review

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26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The general perception of rainwater is that it is pure, clean, and safe to drink as it is a product of vapor condensation. However, rainwater easily gets polluted from catchment surface such as roofs and gutters. Like other countries, in rural areas of Australia, people generally drink rainwater without any formal treatment, which is not in line with the Australian Government's health advice. Drinking untreated harvested rainwater is likely to impact human health. Therefore, treatment and disinfection of harvested rainwater are required to meet the drinking water guidelines and protect public health. The aim of this review is to systematically analyze the current literature on harvested rainwater treatment and disinfection methods and their effectiveness. There has been limited research on small scale disinfection systems, which are especially suitable and sustainable for rainwater harvesting systems in rural areas. A scoping review method has been adopted in this study, which has shown that there is a need to pre-treat the harvested rainwater before formal disinfection. More importantly, treated rainwater needs protection from recontamination similar to mains water if the water is to be stored over a longer period for subsequent use. Furthermore, it is found that hypochlorite could be an effective disinfectant as it can offer residual effects and is readily available and cost effective. A sustainable disinfection method, which is easy to operate and cost-effective in rural settings, is needed to achieve maximum advantage of disinfection by hypochlorite. In order to design such an efficient chlorination system, measurement of chlorine demand and optimum chlorine dose rate are required, which are discussed in this study. To conclude, harvested rainwater requires pre-treatment and disinfection before human consumption. An adequate chlorination method can easily be adapted to make the harvested rainwater drinkable at the household level. Finally, the proposed technology could significantly improve the rural water supply in both developed and developing countries, which will assist in meeting a number of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Original languageEnglish
Article number102542
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Water Process Engineering
Volume46
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

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