The microbial quality and the use of sodis to treat harvested rainwater in rural areas of Uganda case study: Makondo-Lwengo Masaka NalwangaRosemary 2019 <p>While harvested rainwater (HRW) is promoted in rural areas o f Uganda, little attention has been given to its quality. The current study was carried out to investigate the quality o f HRW in the rural area o f Mokondo-Lwengo, Uganda and to determine the effectiveness o f solar water disinfection (SODIS) to treat drinking water in rural households. Households with HRW systems o f different materials were randomly selected and trained in SODIS treatment using 2 liter PET bottles. Following a preliminary short study over 4 months, a year long study was conducted to investigate any seasonal variation. Physiochemical parameters (temperature, pH and TDS) o f the raw HRW were tested on site while the samples for microbial analysis were transported for analysis at Makerere University.</p> <p>Results showed that the HRW met the required physiochemical drinking water standards. However, o f the 462 raw HRW samples, 409 (88.5%) were found to be microbiologically contaminated and unsafe for drinking without treatment. Clostridium perfringens was never found.</p> <p>Lack o f cleaning o f the HRW systems; the manual abstraction o f water due to faulty taps; overhanging vegetation around the HRW systems; the poor condition o f drainage o f water collection area, season, the number of rainfall events in a month and the amount o f rainfall received by a system, were the most significant factors influencing the microbial quality o f the HRW.</p> <p>Following SODIS treatment, the treatment efficiency ranged from 61.2%-100% with the highest treatment efficiencies occurring during the dry months o f the year.</p> <p>When a 25L borosilicate glass tube fitted with a compound parabolic collector (BGTR-CPC) was evaluated, bacterial inactivation to below the limit o f detection (<1CFU/I00ml.) was obtained in 85% o f experiments.</p>