In this study, the quality of collected rainwater at a downtown middle school rainwater harvesting system was evaluated by measuring physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), NO3, PO4, total coliform (TC), Escherichia coli , and some metals (i.e. Al, Cr, Mn, Zn, Cu, As, Cd, and Pb) (2003 to 2011). The analysis shows that the collected water quality is poor, which presents health, considering the high levels of bacterial indicators detected in the harvested rainwater, i.e. turbidity (1.4 to 15.5 NTU) and E. coli (120 and 35 CFU/100 mL in 2007 to 210 and 60 CFU/100 mL in 2011). This study shows that deteriorating water quality was caused by system contamination due to the absence of maintenance. Based on this study, proper operation and maintenance are generally the simplest and most effective ways of maintaining water quality.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
August 24 2015
Importance of maintenance in rainwater harvesting systems: a case study
Ju Young Lee;
Ju Young Lee
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University and Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 151-742, South Korea
Search for other works by this author on:
Hyoungju Kim;
Hyoungju Kim
2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, South Korea
Search for other works by this author on:
Mooyoung Han
3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University and Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 151-742, South Korea and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, South Korea
E-mail: myhan@snu.ac.kr
Search for other works by this author on:
Water Supply (2016) 16 (1): 97–103.
Article history
Received:
May 13 2015
Accepted:
July 16 2015
Citation
Ju Young Lee, Hyoungju Kim, Mooyoung Han; Importance of maintenance in rainwater harvesting systems: a case study. Water Supply 1 February 2016; 16 (1): 97–103. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2015.115
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.