Abstract
Abstract In many areas of the world, rainwater has been collected and consumed by people. Our research aims to assess the use of rainwater and the impact of operation and maintenance activities of the rainwater system on drinking water quality in rural areas where there is no access to a public drinking water system. Through the questionnaire, direct visits, interviews and sampling of water at surveyed households (HHs), it was found that 100 and 98% of surveyed HHs used rainwater for drinking and cooking, respectively. Nearly, 80% of them were aware of the necessity of frequent reservoir cleaning as well as first-flush removal. Cleaning the water reservoir had a significant impact on water quality, in particular the total dissolved solids (p-value < 0.05). The use of strainers and more frequency of cleaning the catchment roofs and gutters would make the lower turbidity in water. However, the use of strainers would reduce the dissolution of oxygen in the reservoirs. A recommendation on the frequency of maintaining the rainwater harvesting systems was proposed after assessment of the operation and maintenance behaviors at surveyed HHs.
Highlights
With the increasing shortage of underground water and surface water due to human activities and climate change, rainwater harvesting (RWH) has drawn much attention as an additional water supply option for domestic and drinking purposes (Bocanegra-Martínez et al ; Hanson & Vogel )
In Vietnam, rainwater has been widely used as a naturebased and low-cost water supply in rural areas which gives better taste compared with underground water
Thuy et al ( ) rendered some solutions to ‘remove the barriers’ including (1) development of a sustainable rainwater management plan, considering technical aspect and cost and benefit analysis, and risk assessment, (2) development of technical guidance in RWH in Vietnam, which provide instructions on rainwater collection and use and (3) provision of the incentive programs to encourage the practice of using RWH systems, in particular at a large scale
Summary
With the increasing shortage of underground water and surface water due to human activities and climate change, rainwater harvesting (RWH) has drawn much attention as an additional water supply option for domestic and drinking purposes (Bocanegra-Martínez et al ; Hanson & Vogel ). Rainwater is considered as an important source for water for drinking and cooking in rural areas (Islam et al ; Özdemir et al ). In Vietnam, rainwater has been widely used as a naturebased and low-cost water supply in rural areas which gives better taste compared with underground water. Thuy et al ( ) rendered some solutions to ‘remove the barriers’ including (1) development of a sustainable rainwater management plan, considering technical aspect and cost and benefit analysis, and risk assessment, (2) development of technical guidance in RWH in Vietnam, which provide instructions on rainwater collection and use and (3) provision of the incentive programs to encourage the practice of using RWH systems, in particular at a large scale
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