Rainwater is fast becoming established as an adequate source of water for human consumption. With the world's increasing demand for suitable and usable water, focus is being shifted to rainwater harvesting as one way to meet up the world's demand for water. In some areas even, rainwater is the more available option for water supply. They do not have access to water from a water company or water board, and so they have to make do with God's free gift from the sky. Then the question arises about the suitability of rainwater for human consumption. How safe is rainwater?
Rainwater as it is, contains some nutrients that might be suitable for gardening and irrigation. It is also free of chemicals that might affect plant growth or damage earth surface. However, it is not the case for humans. Because rainwater harvesting systems involves gathering water majorly from roofs of buildings, it is often compromised before it gets to the collection point or storage tank attached to the system. There are various pollutants found on the roof of buildings such as dust and excretions from birds. These elements are harmful to the human body system when ingested, and so, it is necessary that the full process of rainwater harvesting is applied.
There are various types of harvesting systems such as subsurface dike and groundwater recharge. Subsurface dikes increase the level of groundwater and thus increases the volume of water stored. This system is being applied adequately and efficiently in parts of India.
A typical rainwater harvesting system includes the roof of the building where the water flows from, gutters and pipes to convey the water, a storage tank to collect and store the water, and a filtering and distributing system to get the purified water to the point where it is readily needed. Usually a pumping machine may be incorporated to the system if the storage and filter is located underground.
If the adequate measures are applied, then, rainwater provides a preferred option for water supply. It is being practiced in various homes, communities and cities all over the world. It has helped to solve the issue of water scarcity in these places.
