Can rainwater be treated to produce drinking water?
Yes, it is easily possible to treat rainwater and bring it to drinking water quality. There are various technologies and processes that can be used to treat rainwater, such as membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, ozone treatment, UV irradiation and chemical treatments.
For domestic use, it is often sufficient to boil the water for a short time. Filter pots with a ceramic filter element have also proved their worth.
The exact type and scope of treatment depends on the quality of the source water and the requirements of the end user. The treatment of rainwater to drinking water quality is standard in many countries. From a global perspective, rainwater is the largest and best quality source of drinking water. This is particularly true for many people in Asia and Africa. The pollution of rainwater is generally lower and more definable than the pollution of e.g. drug residues or chemicals in river water or groundwater contaminated with nitrate. Rainwater is therefore an ideal source for treatment into drinking water.