1 Design and Operation of a Rainwater For Drinking (RFD) Project

2 in a Rural Area – Case Study at Cukhe elementary School, Vietnam

3
4
5 Anh Dzung Daoa, Duc Canh Nguyen, Moo Young Hana,*

6
7
8a Department of Civil & Environment Engineering #35-518, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanak-ro,

9Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-742, ROK.

10

11

12

13* Corresponding author:

14MOO YOUNG HAN

15Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanak-

16ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-742, ROK

17Tel: +82-2-880-7375

18Fax: +82-2-885-7376

19Email: myhan@snu.ac.kr

20
21

22

1
23Abstract

24Equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all is one of the targets in Sustainable

25Development Goals 6 (SDG6), and is also a challenge, especially in rural areas in developing

26countries. Community-based rainwater harvesting (CB-RWH) has the potential to achieve a

27resilient and sustainable drinking water supply in developing countries. Since 2014, a well-

28designed Rainwater For Drinking (RFD) project has been under successful operation at Cukhe

29elementary school, near Hanoi, Vietnam. During that time, daily rainfall data, water

30consumption, water quality and questionnaires to the community were prepared. Several

31concerns in the design and operation of RFD projects in a rural village, such as lack of sufficient

32rainfall data, water quality concerns, and public acceptance, are identified and overcome.

33Modeled results from using observed daily rainfall data, and using a simplified method from

34insufficient monthly data, are compared for several design and operational parameters. The

35simplified method using insufficient rainfall data is acceptable for design within the error range

36of 0-11%, with a negligible value when the volume of the tanks is larger than 10 m 3. Rainwater

37quality after the use of the point of use treatment device proved that a well-designed RWH

38system ensures safe drinking water, which complies with WHO and VDQWS guidelines. The

39people of the community liked the RFD system because of the satisfactory water quality and the

40economic benefits of not needing to purchase bottled water. The success of the RFD project at

41the Cukhe elementary school proved the potential of promoting rainwater as drinking water in

42rural areas in developing countries, where a safe drinking water supply is a challenge, and should

43be promoted as an important means to achieve SDG6.

44

45Keywords: CB-RWH, Drinking water, Developing countries, Rainfall data, Rainwater For
46Drinking, SDG6, Water quality

2
47 Introduction

48 A safe and affordable drinking water supply, which is one of the targets in Sustainable

49Development Goals 6 (SDG6), is essential for life. However, millions of people around the

50world still do not have access to this necessity. In rural areas in particular, drinking water

51problems are more common due to the government’s inability to establish centralized water

52supplies, and the lack of a low cost and sustainable water treatment approach.

53 Community-based rainwater harvesting (CB-RWH) is recommended as a promising solution

54to the drinking-water challenges in developing countries (Kim et al., 2016). RWH has been

55considered to be a sustainable method to obtain good-quality drinking water at a low cost and

56with little energy expenditure (Nguyen et al., 2013, Ahmed et al., 2011, Helmreich and Horn,

572009). CB-RWH is considered to be adequate for most rural areas, as centralized water supply

58systems are often unaffordable given the remote locations and lack of financial resources (Peter-

59Varbanets et al., 2009).

60 However, common concerns of rainwater for drinking projects are (1) a lack of sufficient

61rainfall data in remote areas to design the system, (2) uncertainty of water quality and (3)

62uncertainty of public acceptance. Obtaining detailed and suitable rainfall data in order to design a

63good RWH system is a challenge in remote areas, especially in developing countries. In RWH

64system performance prediction, the direct use of monthly rainfall data instead of daily rainfall

65data may lead to considerable errors (Imteaz et al., 2012, Zaag, 2000, Thomas, 2002). Most

66RWH systems in operation experience problems with water quality, which include turbidity with

67suspended solids, or sometimes insects easily observable with the naked eye. The poor quality of

68rainwater, however, is not inherent to the rainwater itself, but is caused mainly by the inadequate

69design or poor maintenance of the collection/treatment equipment (Dobrowsky et al., 2014). If

3
70rainwater is collected properly, it can be of good physical and chemical quality, but there are

71doubts on safety because biological contamination has been detected (Sazakli et al., 2007; Vialle

72et al., 2011; Gikas et al., 2012). This requires minimal treatment before use as drinking water

73(Amin & Han, 2009a, 2009b, 2011). Further, public acceptance has been identified as a key

74factor for enhancing implementation and promotion of water management approaches (Sharp,

752006). Clarification of the issues associated with user satisfactions to use Rainwater For

76Drinking could facilitate production of better information and the targeted promotion of such

77systems. However, little is known about public attitudes towards and perceptions of Rainwater

78For Drinking so far, particularly for the Vietnam. There are several gaps in knowledge and

79understanding due to the lack of water quality and quantity information, the utilities of the

80system, and the outlook on economic benefits.

81 In July 2014, we installed a 12 m3 RWH system at Cukhe elementary school, which is

82located in a rural area near Hanoi, Vietnam, and operated it to overcome these concerns. Several

83innovative technologies have been applied in implementing the Cukhe elementary school RWHs.

84Local data were gathered by a simple rain gauge to compare the simplified method using

85monthly rainfall data and real data in the design for the RWHs. Measuring rainfall data and water

86consumption data is helpful for the democratic operation and self-control of RWH systems, as

87was suggested to be a good model for ‘governing of the commons’, proposed by Ostrum (1990),

88who later won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics.

89 This paper shows a successful case study of a RFD project at Cukhe elementary school by

90overcoming the commonly encountered challenges, such as system modeling with insufficient

91rainfall data, water quality of the rainwater system, and public acceptance.

92

4
 93 Materials and Methods

94 Site description

95 Cukhe Elementary School is located in Cukhe, a remote village in the southern part of

96Hanoi, Vietnam (Fig 1). In the village, people do not have access to a safe water supply for many

97reasons. First, the government cannot afford to establish centralized water supplies to this type of

98remote village. Secondly, river water, which was used for rural water supply, is no longer

99available because it has been polluted by recent urbanization and insufficient sewer systems.

100Finally, groundwater in this area is heavily contaminated by arsenic. The only safe drinking

101water is bottled water, which is too expensive for many village people to afford. The school,

102however, had to supply expensive bottled water for the young students, paid for by their parents.

103The school has 300 students, 15 teachers, and 3 buildings, with relatively secure and suitable

104roofs. The average annual rainfall is 1680 mm.

105

106

107 (a) (b)

108 Figure 1: (a) The location and (b) picture of RFD system of Cukhe Elementary School,

109 Vietnam.

5
110 Rainwater harvesting system

111 In July 2014, the Cukhe elementary school rainwater harvesting system was installed as a

112corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity, which was donated by The Lotte Department

113Store, Korea. The system was designed and the construction was monitored by a team from

114Seoul National University and a NGO named RainForAll. The construction was by local labor

115and used locally available materials in order to be technically independent, so that the operation

116and repair can be later performed by local people. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the Cukhe

117elementary school RWH system. The rainwater was collected from the roof of one of the school

118buildings, which is made of galvanized iron roof material. Rainwater collected from the roof is

119followed by a 120 L first flush diverter, which is installed to prevent most of the deposits from

120entering the rainwater storage tanks. Rainwater is stored in two separate 6 m3 stainless steel tanks

121to enhance the sedimentation capacity. In the storage tank a simple “J”shaped pipe, called a

122calm-inlet, was installed to avoid the resuspension of bottom sludge. The sludge deposited at the

123bottom was drained manually by the decision of the operator, who opened the drain pipe until

124clear water drained. To ensure rainwater quality for safe drinking, a simple UV filter was

125installed near the tap to treat microorganisms. Here, water level gauges and water meters were

126installed to monitor remaining water supplies and cumulative water consumption.

127
128

6
129
130 Figure 2: Schematic of the rainwater tank at Cukhe Primary School in Vietnam.

131

132 Analysis of operational data

133 The design of a Rainwater Harvesting system is usually done by a simple mass balance

134equation using daily rainfall data and water consumption. However, the lack of daily rainfall data

135was an issue for a remote rural area, because rainfall data are primarily collected in urban

136centers. Therefore, Cukhe Village did not have adequate rainfall data to make a precise RWH

137design. The solution was to install a simple rainfall gauge and to work with a student science

138group to maintain rainfall records via a website (Figure 3). This rain gauge has the same design

139that was first developed in 1441 AD by the King Sejong the Great of the Joseon Dynasty, which

140is old Korea (Han and Park 2009). Daily rainfall data were measured with the rain gauge from

14102/2015-12/2015. Furthermore, rainwater supply was monitored by a water meter for 1 year in

7
1422015. In this paper, the collected data are used to evaluate RWH system performance and

143compare to the simplified method using monthly rainfall data (Nguyen 2016).

144

145

146 Figure 3: The rain gauge installed at Cukhe Primary School in Vietnam (Kim et al., 2016)

147

148 Rainwater quality was also checked. Rainwater samples were collected 5 times from a tap

149directly connected to the storage to measure stored rainwater quality, and collected two times

150from the other tap after treatment. Stored rainwater sampling was carried out on Sep., Oct., Nov.,

1512014, Mar., Jun., 2015. Treated water sampling was carried out on Jan., Oct., 2015. The

152following parameters were analyzed for each sample of rainwater collected: pH, total dissolved

153solids, turbidity, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, hardness, arsenic, iron, cadmium, nickel, chromium,

154manganese, mercury, selenium, lead, zinc, E. coli, and total coliforms. All analyses were carried

155out following Standard Methods (APHA, 1995).

156

157 Public acceptance interview

8
158 To investigate the public acceptance of the RFD project in Cukhe elementary school, a total

159of 188 stakeholders, including teachers, students and their parents, who used the RDF system,

160were interviewed with the same questions about their satisfaction. The questionnaires covered

161the reliability of the rainwater quality and quantity, their satisfaction with the operation, and

162maintenance of the system. Finally, their satisfaction with the economic benefits of the project

163were examined.

9
164 Results and Discussions

165 Verification of the model with operational data

166 A mass balance model to predict the performance of a rainwater harvesting system needs

167daily rainfall data and daily water consumption as an input. From the simulation, the design and

168operation parameters, such as annual water savings (WS), number of no water days (NWD) and

169rainwater utilization efficiency (RUE), were calculated for different tank volumes. Nguyen

170(2016) suggested a simplified method, using the monthly data only for design. Fortunately, daily

171rainfall data at the school were collected by the students after the installation. To verify the

172simplified method, these data were used in the simulation and compared.

173 After installation, the school used 59.7 m3 of water for 1 year. Assuming consistent

174usage, the average daily demand is 0.55 LPCD (Liter per capita per day). According to an

175interview with the principal of the school, there had been no empty day of the storage since

176installation. This suggests that the RWH system has satisfied all drinking water demand. Before

177installing the system, students had to pay 0.45USD (10,000 VND) per day for the equivalent of a

1780.53 Liter of bottle water.

179 Daily rainfall was measured by the rain gauge and recorded by students. Figure 4 shows

180recorded daily rainfall from 02/2015-12/2015. Most rainfall was concentrated in the summer.

181

10
 Daily rainfall data
120
100

Rainfall (mm)
80
60
40
20
0
1 183552
Days (start from 02/2015-12/2015)
182
183 Figure 4. Recorded daily rainfall data in Cukhe elementary school from 02/2015-
184 12/2015.
185

186 A benefit of local data collection is that it can result in a democratic decision of operation

187that can be used as reference for the design and operation of an RWH system. Figure 5 compares

188the RWH performance by employing the actual recorded daily rainfall and the modeled rainfall

189generated from the limited rainfall data model. For the small tank sizes, there is a small error

190within 11%, introduced by using the modeled rainfall data instead of actual recorded daily

191rainfall data. At larger tank sizes, it becomes closer and more similar to the results that used

192actual recorded daily rainfall data for the Cukhe elementary school RWH system (12 m 3 tank

193volume). These results prove the accuracy of the limited rainfall data model to design RWHs

194where there is lack of rainfall data.

195

11
 Water saving NWD
60
350
50
Water saving (m3)

300
40 250

NWD (days)
30 200
20 150
100
10
50
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Tank volume (m3) Tank volume (m3)
196

RUE
40
35
30
RUE (%)

25
20
15
10
5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Tank volume (m3)
197
198 Figure 5. Variation of (a) annual water saving, (b) number of No-water-days (NWD) and (c)

199 rainwater utilization efficiency RUE by using actual daily rainfall data and the modeled rainfall

200 data as the input.

201

202 Water Quality

203 Table 1 shows the rainwater quality. As shown in table 1, all chemical and physical

204parameters are much lower than Vietnam drinking water quality standards (VDWQS) and WHO

205over the year. Similar results can be achieved to other well designed RWH systems. Rainwater

12
206has potential of microbiological contamination due to pollutants from bird and animal feces, dust

207and leaves. Table 1 shows a large variation of coliforms of 0-78,000 MPN/100 mL and E. coli of

2080-3,200 MPN/100mL in stored rainwater. Even though probabilities of illness by drinking

209microbiological contaminated rainwater are very low and there is no link between untreated

210rainwater consumption and illness (Australian Government Department of Health 2011),

211disinfection prior to consumption is still highly recommended because of potential hazards.

212 At the point of use after filtration, all the parameters including both total coliforms and E.

213coli parameters satisfy VDWQS and WHO, confirming that UV filter was safe enough to drink.

214In rural areas in developing countries, UV filter is recommended to eliminate microbiological

215contamination from rainwater due to its long duration and low cost. These results prove that

216RWH can safely be used for drinking with a POU treatment system.

217
218Table 1. Stored rainwater and treated rainwater quality

Stored Treated
Variables VDQWS WHO
rainwater rainwater
pH 6.5-8.5 - 6.3 – 7.9 6.36-7.24
TDS (mg/L) 1000 - 26 – 53.8 23-47.6
Turbidity (NTU) 2 - 0.05 – 1.2 0.6
Hardness (mgCaCO3/L) 300 - 5-22 10-13
Nitrite (mg/L) 3 3 0.22-2.31 0.006-0.11
Nitrate (mg/L) 50 50 0.25-4.1 1.3- 2.0
Ammoniac (mg/L) 3 - 0.09-0.86 0.03-0.2
Sulfate (mg/L) 250 - <1 0-1
Hydrogen sulfide (mg/L) 0.05 - 0.025-0.035 0.03-0.035
Chloride (mg/L) 300 - 0.05-0.2 0-0.1
As (mg/L) 0.01 0.01 <0.005 0-0.005
Iron (mg/L) 0.3 - 0.025-0.084 0.05
Cadmium (mg/L) 0.003 0.003 <0.0002 0-0.0002
Nickel (mg/L) 0.02 0.07 <0.001 0-0.001
Chromium(mg/L) 0.05 0.05 <0.001 0-0.001
Manganese (mg/L) 0.3 0.4 <0.035 0-0.035
Mercury (mg/L) 0.001 0.006 <0.0002 0-0.0002
Selenium (mg/L) 0.01 0.01 <0.0002 0-0.0002
Lead (mg/L) 0.01 0.01 <0.001 0-0.001
Zinc (mg/L) 3 - 0.046-0.05 0.01

13
 Al (mg/L) 0.2 0.2 <0.001 0-0.001
Total Coliform (MPN/100 mL) 0 0 0-78,000 0
E. coli (MPN/100 mL) 0 0 0-3200 0
219

220 Public acceptance

221 Table 2 shows the opinions of the teachers, students and their parents about the RFD

222system in Cukhe elementary school. Through the surveys and the interviews, it was shown that

223community people have a positive perception toward the RFD project. They are considered

224rainwater to be a safe and clean source of drinking water. Furthermore, they also showed high

225satisfaction with the RFD project’s economic benefits, which were proved to prevent purchasing

226costly bottle water.

227 The public acceptance and success of RFD project at the Cukhe elementary school can be

228widely transferred to their communities and villages, since many of the stakeholders were

229involved in the RFD project. This may hopefully suggest the promotion and replication potential

230of RFD to achieve resilient and sustainable drinking water supplies in rural areas in developing

231countries facing water shortages, and should be promoted as an important means to achieve

232SDG6.

233

234Table 2. Stakeholders’ opinions about the RFD project at CuKhe elementary school

Very Disappointed Normal Good Very good

disappointed (%) (%) (%) (%)
(%)
Are you satisfied with 3 1 51 35 9
the taste of rainwater?
Are you satisfied with 2 4 41 42 11
the rainwater quality?
Do you think the RDF 4 6 39 39 12
system supplies enough
water?
Do you think the RDF is 3 0 45 41 11
convenient for use?
Do you think the system 2 1 36 35 26

14
 is economic?
235
01 Tạp chí
Energy and building
Building and Environment
Water research

236

15
237 Conclusions

238 A well-designed RFD (Rainwater For Drinking) project has been in operation at Cukhe

239elementary school in a rural area in Vietnam, a developing country, since June 2014. By

240monitoring rainfall data and water consumption, a community can democratically self-regulate

241water consumption and can be used for future designs.

242 It was possible to design a suitable system with a simplified method using monthly

243rainfall data. A well-designed RFD system ensures a relatively safe water source with good

244physicochemical quality. After applying POU treatment, it provides safe drinking water that is

245within the WHO and VDQWS guidelines.

246 Public acceptance of the RFD project was analyzed. It suggested that CB-RWM has

247potential to achieve a resilient and sustainable water supply for drinking.

248 The success of the Cukhe elementary school RFD project proved the potential for

249promoting rainwater as drinking water in rural areas in developing countries, where a safe

250drinking water supply is a challenge, and can shed a light on a method to achieve equal access to

251safe and affordable water for all, which is suggested by SDG6.

252

16
253 References

254Ahmed, W., Gardner, T., Toze, S., 2011. Microbiological Quality of Roof-Harvested Rainwater

255 and Health Risks: A Review, J. Environ. Qual. 40, 13–21.

256American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association (AWWA),

257 Water Environment Federation (WEF), 1995. Standard Methods for the Examination of

258 Water and Wastewater. Washington, DC.

259Amin, M. T. & Han, M., 2011 Improvement of solar based rainwater disinfection by using lemon

260 and vinegar as catalysts. Desalination. 276(1-3), 416-423.

261 DOI:10.1016/j.desal.2011.03.076.

262Amin, M. T. & Han, M., 2009 Roof-harvested rainwater for potable purposes: Application of

263 solar collector disinfection (SOCO-DIS). Water Research. 43(20), 5225-5235.

264 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2009.08.041.

265Amin, M. T. & Han, M., 2009 Water environmental and sanitation status in disaster relief of

266 Pakistan’s 2005 earthquake. Desalination. 252, 19-28. DOI:10.1016/j.desal.2008.05.085.

267Australian Government Department of Health. Guidance on use of rainwater tanks. Australian

268 Government Department of Health. March 2011.

269 https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/0D71DB86E9DA7CF1C

270 A257BF0001CBF2F/$File/enhealth-raintank.pdf. (Accessed May 11, 2016).

271Dobrowsky, P. H., De Kwaadsteniet, M., Cloete, T. E., & Khan, W. 2014 Distribution of

272 Indigenous Bacterial Pathogens and Potential Pathogens Associated with Roof-Harvested

273 Rainwater. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 80(7), 2307–2316. DOI:

274 10.1128/AEM.04130-13.

17
275Ahmed, W., Gardner, T., Toze, S., 2011. Microbiological Quality of Roof-Harvested Rainwater

276 and Health Risks: A Review, J. Environ. Qual. 40, 13–21.

277Gikas, G. D., Tsihrintzis, V. A., 2012. Assessment of water quality of first-flush roof runoff and

278 harvested rainwater, Journal of Hydrology. 466–467, 115–126.

279Han, M. Y. and Park, J., 2009. Innovative rainwater harvesting and management in the Republic

280 of Korea. Consulting Meeting for Development of Guidelines for Eco-efficient Water

281 Infrastructure, 30-31st March, Seoul, Korea.

282Helmreich, B., Horn, H., 2009. Opportunities in rainwater harvesting. Desalination. 248, 118–

283 124.

284Monzur Alam Imteaza, Amimul Ahsanb, Jamal Nasera, Ataur Rahmanc., 2011. Reliability

285 analysis of rainwater tanks in Melbourne using daily water balance model. Resources,

286 Conservation and Recycling. 56, 80–86.

287Nguyen, D. C., 2016. Micro-scale hydrology modelling for multipurpose rainwater management.

288 (Doctoral dissertation, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea).

289Nguyen, D. C., Dao, A. D., Kim, C., & Han, M. Y., 2013. A sustainability assessment of the

290 rainwater harvesting system for drinking water supply—A case study of Cukhe Village,

291 Hanoi, Vietnam. Environmental Engineering Research Journal. 18(2), 109-114.

292 DOI: 10.4491/eer.2013.18.2.109.

293Ostrum, E., 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action,

294 Cambridge University Press.

295Peter-Varbanets, M., Zurbru¨ gg, C., Swartz, C., Pronk, W., 2009. Decentralized systems for

296 potable water and the potential of membrane technology. Water Research. 43, 245-265.

18
297Sazakli, E., Alexopoulos, A., Leotsinidis, M., 2007. Rainwater harvesting, quality assessment

298 and utilization in Kefalonia Island, Greece. Water Research. 41 (9), 2039-2047.

299Sharp, L., 2006. Water Demand Management in England and Wales: constructions of the

300 domestic water user. J. Envir. Plann. Manage., 49, 869-889.

301Thomas, T., 2002. RWH Performance Predictor for Use with Coarse (i.e. Monthly) Rainfall

302 Data. Rep. No. RN-RWH04, Domestic Roofwater Harvesting Research Programme,

303 University of Warwick.

304Vialle, C., Sablayrolles, C., Lovera, M., Jacob, S., Huau, M. C., Montrejaud-Vignoles M., 2011.

305 Monitoring of water quality from roof runoff: Interpretation using multivariate analysis.

306 Water research. 45, 3765-3775

307Yongkyun Kim, Mooyoung Han, Julius Kabubi, Hong-Gyoo Sohn, Duc-Canh Nguyen., 2016.

308 Community-based rainwater harvesting (CB-RWH) to supply drinking water in

309 developing countries: Lessons learned from case studies in Africa and Asia. Journal of

310 Water Science and Technology: Water Supply. 16(4), 1110-1121.

311Zaag, P.V.D., 2000. Estimating storage requirement for rainwater harvested from roofs. 4 th

312 Biennial congress of the African division of the international association of hydraulic

313 research, Windhoek, Namibia.

314

19