Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for reuse on-site, rather than allowing it to run off. In Ghana this is very common especially in more rural areas where piped water is not available. This harvested water is often stored in concrete pits sunk into the ground or collected into large poly-tanks and then used for washing, food irrigation, cooking and other domesticated uses.

Whilst using water more wisely, rainwater harvesting reduces the reliance on mains water, or on your borehole or well. Making use of the rain that falls on your buildings makes good sense. It can also mean potentially less storage for slurry, and reduce the likelihood of contaminated runoff from plots entering rivers and streams.

Rain water is not pure water and can be contaminated from numerous sources via the way the water was collected such as exposed roofing and gutters.

You can read a thesis published on rain water harvesting and some of the issues regarding contamination here Rainwater Harvesting

The good news is that harvested rainwater treated with XzioX can be used for anything from irrigation to drinking water. We have extensively tested harvested rainwater both before and after using XzioX via the Ghana Water Research Institute. With rainwater untreated the results were always giving clearance for irrigation use and other sanitary uses such as washing. However the results of the rain water treated with XzioX revealed that the water is safe and clean from any harmful bacteria (e-coli & coliforms) that may have been introduced via the way the water was collected such as exposed roofing and gutters and can therefore be used for drinking water.