Rainwater harvest, an alternative for water supply for human consumption

Abstract

One of the millennium development goals is to have the world population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Another challenge of the millennium also states that every human being has the right to clean water, which implies access to minimum quantity and quality values to meet their basic needs; however, rapid urbanization, industrialization and population growth, have reduced the availability of drinking water. In this sense, several alternatives have been practiced in order to solve this problem. Recent studies have demonstrated the economic, social and environmental benefits of harvesting rainwater in different regions, water harvesting systems provide flexible solutions that can properly meet the needs of existing and future demands. The overall objective of this research was to monitor the quality of water stored in rainwater harvesting systems installed in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico this technology was developed by a group of researchers CA-177 of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas. The determination of cations Na +, K +, Mg2 +, Ca2 + and trace elements was performed by atomic absorption (AA Team ThermoScientific ICE 3300) under the NMX-AA-012- 200-SCFI APHA standard. Results indicate that quality of water stored in tanks receiving rainwater meets the Mexican Standard NOM-127-SSA1-1994 and WHO for human consumption. It is concluded that physico-chemical and biological characteristics of harvested water is suitable for all purpose, demonstrating that this technology is inexpensive and represents a sustainable alternative to supply water in marginal areas of Zacatecas and Mexico.