Assessment of Quality of Harveted Rainwater in Kumasi Peri-urban Area

The perennial water shortage in most developing countries during the dry season has necessitated the need to store water by harvesting rainwater. According to WHO statistics about 1.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and nearly two million people die each year due to water borne diseases in the poorest countries. Inasmuch as rainwater harvesting is advocated to solve water shortage problem, it has become necessary to conduct physico-chemical and bacteriological studies to know how safe it is for people to rely on as alternative source of drinking water. In this research, samples of bulk roof-harvested rainwater over different roof types were collected and analyzed. The analyses of the rainwater samples were carried out using standard methods with adequate quality control and quality assurance measures. This work is intended to reach researchers in scientific communities such as higher institutions, industries, government agencies as well as WHO whose concern is to make sure that each and every individual gets clean potable drinking water to avoid water-borne diseases.