Utilisation of drinking water from rainwater-harvesting cisterns in the Palestinian territories: assessment of contamination risk

Abusafa, Abdelrahim; Arafat, Hassan A.

doi:10.1504/ijewm.2012.046398

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The age of the cistern is an indicator for the importance of cisterns for rainwater harvesting in the past and recently. Old cisterns are more vulnerable to leakage of polluted water into them through cracks (Abusafa et al 2009), and require more attentive maintenance. On the other hand, the study shows that a significant number of cisterns (27%) were constructed within the last 10 years, reflecting a growing demand for this alternative water source.…”

Section: Water Cisterns Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…30% of cisterns have trees near them. Trees can be considered a source of cistern water contamination as they provide suitable habitat for birds and pets, which may bring their feces in contact with cistern water (Vida et al 2005;Abusafa et al 2009), especially if the cistern's lid is not always on. Moreover, the application of biosolids to soil surrounding these plants may cause harmful substances from these solids to leach into the cistern water.…”

Section: Design and Usage Of Rainwater Harvesting Cisterns In Hebron mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water is supplied only for a few hours daily, mostly on a rotational basis. In distant areas, water supply may be interrupted for days or even weeks (Abusafa et al 2009). As an additional complication, 50% of the areas served by water distribution networks suffer from partial water loss (via leakage in the network) or low pumping pressure (Al-Khatib and Orabi 2004;Abusafa et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards Sustainable Water Quality: Management of Rainwater Harvesting Cisterns in Southern Palestine

Al-Salaymeh¹,

Al‐Khatib

Arafat

2011

Water Resour Manage

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Environmental management of rainwater harvesting in southern Palestine is required to reduce the continuously increasing demand for fresh water from limited water aquifers and to reduce the adverse health impact on the people drinking harvested rainwater. This continuously increasing demand for fresh water requires the enhancement of environmental conditions surrounding the cistern owners' awareness to tackle the mismanagement that contributed to rainwater contamination. In this study, 100 cisterns were sampled and tested for physiochemical and microbiological parameters. Most of the tested physiochemical parameters were within the acceptable limits of WHO and Palestinian standards except turbidity, calcium and magnesium where 24%, 47% and 32% of the samples were nonconforming, respectively. The pH values of the collected rainwater ranged from 7.32 to 8.97 with a mean value of 8.16. The nitrate analysis results range from 1.5 to 7.0 mg/L, with a mean value of 4.2 mg/L. High percentage of cisterns were found to be contaminated with total Coliforms (TC) and faecal Coliforms (FC) with percentages of 95% and 57%, respectively, rendering the cistern water unacceptable for drinking purposes. 78% of samples had a severe degree of contamination for which water needs flocculation, sedimentation then chlorination to become suitable for drinking. On the other hand, based on FC data, none of the tested samples for FC was a "high risk", but 57% of them were categorized with "simple" to "moderate risk" and 43% were "no risk" cisterns. A cistern owner's survey was utilized to reveal the roots behind this contamination. Different remediation measures, such as cleaning cisterns A. Al-Salaymeh et al. and rainwater collection surfaces and discarding water from the first season storm, were recommended to enhance and protect the cistern water quality.

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Section: Water Cisterns Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Design and Usage Of Rainwater Harvesting Cisterns In Hebron mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards Sustainable Water Quality: Management of Rainwater Harvesting Cisterns in Southern Palestine

Al-Salaymeh¹,

Al‐Khatib

Arafat

2011

Water Resour Manage

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Management of rainwater harvesting and its impact on the health of people in the Middle East: case study from Yatta town, Palestine

Celik

Tamimi

Al‐Khatib

et al. 2017

Environ Monit Assess

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Water-related diseases are a primary problem in Palestine where many residents revert to harvested rainwater as their primary water source due to water shortages within the area. From an environmental engineering perspective, it is already well known that certain situations (e.g., cross contamination) reduce drinking water quality and ultimately cause diseases in a population. In this study, we investigated the social practices and situations that may lead to lower disease occurrence. Towards this goal, we surveyed 382 residents in Yatta to collect data on the water-related diseases that they experienced and the specific situations that might affect the disease occurrences such as the residents' practices (i) for maintaining a high quality of cistern water, (ii) for maintaining the environment around the cistern, and (iii) for managing the wastewater. In addition, we measured the physicochemical and microbiological parameters in cisterns to support the qualitative survey data. The measured parameters, including turbidity, salinity, free available chlorine, total Coliforms, and fecal Coliforms, were above Palestinian Standard Institution (PSI) and World Health Organization (WHO) guideline levels, suggesting a potential infectious hazard. The poor quality of the water was also observed by residents based on change in taste and by visually noting floating impurities, turbidity, and green coloration. Survey results showed that observations of the poor quality in cisterns and surrounding environment had statistically significant correlation with most of the water-related diseases. Additionally, frequently emptying the septic tank contributes to improving the observed water qualities. Therefore, residents should be encouraged to continue to observe the water quality in the cistern, improve the surrounding environment of cistern, and empty their septic tank frequently, to keep the water diseases away from their households.

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Fecal Contamination of Drinking-Water in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

et al. 2014

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Robert Bain and colleagues conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether water from “improved” sources is less likely to contain fecal contamination than “unimproved” sources and find that access to an “improved source” provides a measure of sanitary protection but does not ensure water is free of fecal contamination. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

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Utilisation of drinking water from rainwater-harvesting cisterns in the Palestinian territories: assessment of contamination risk

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Towards Sustainable Water Quality: Management of Rainwater Harvesting Cisterns in Southern Palestine

Towards Sustainable Water Quality: Management of Rainwater Harvesting Cisterns in Southern Palestine

Management of rainwater harvesting and its impact on the health of people in the Middle East: case study from Yatta town, Palestine

Fecal Contamination of Drinking-Water in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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