COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE QUALITY OF RAINWATER HARVESTED FROM RURAL AND URBAN COMMUNITIES IN UGHELLI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA
Origho Thaddeus
Department of Geography
College of Education, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria
E-mail: thaddeusorigho@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The study compares the quality of harvested rainwater from urban and rural areas of Ughelli North Local Government Area of Domestic purposes in order to safeguard human health. It is an empirical study of harvested rainwater from the zinc catchment roof in the area. Laboratory analysis of water samples collected were analysed for physic-chemical characteristics in line with WHO (2010) drinking quality standard. The results showed that variation exists in the harvested rainwater from the rural and urban areas. However, most of the parameters examined showed satisfactory concentration; hence the rainwater can be harvested and used for domestic purposes with little purification to eliminate the excess pH, lead, zinc and iron found in it. The study recommends that harvested rainwater should be allowed to settle down for some minutes before use to eliminate pathogenic bacteria and impurities.
Keywords: Comparative analysis, water quality, rural, urban, harvested
