IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i19p14568-d1255350.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multivariate Analysis of Harvested Rainwater Quality Utilizing Sustainable Solar-Energy-Driven Water Treatment

Author

Listed:
  • Bisma Khalid

    (Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan)

  • Abdullah Alodah

    (Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Qassim, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

The rising importance of utilizing rainwater as a sustainable and viable alternative water source is evident amid increasing urbanization and the mounting global apprehensions about water scarcity. This research aims to develop a comprehensive and sustainable approach to rainwater treatment by effectively utilizing the recently constructed solar panels at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Pakistan. The study’s distinctiveness lies in its comprehensive examination of treatment plant efficiency under various weather conditions in a water-scarce region. The main objective of this work is to maximize the harvested rainwater in order to provide safe drinking water while lessening the carbon footprint of treatment operations. The proposed University of Engineering and Technology water purification process (UETWPP) method involves a sequence of four essential rainwater filtration stages, namely aeration, absorption, sediment filtration, and finally, UV disinfection, all powered by solar energy. Water samples were collected monthly for a year to assess the quality of untreated and treated rainwater, including physical, chemical, and biological parameters. Multivariate analysis techniques were used to assess these parameters, including the Friedman test and principal component analyses. By reducing the initial set of twenty components down to the four most critical ones identified in the untreated water samples, the interrelationships among these components were investigated. The results indicate that the quality of treated water using the UETWPP process was found to be suitable for human consumption, aligning with the local standards as well as those established by the World Health Organization (WHO), highlighting the effectiveness of the process in transforming rainwater into potable water. Ultimately, this pilot project showcases the viability and economic efficiency of the proposed system, rendering it easily implementable in other regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Bisma Khalid & Abdullah Alodah, 2023. "Multivariate Analysis of Harvested Rainwater Quality Utilizing Sustainable Solar-Energy-Driven Water Treatment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14568-:d:1255350
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14568/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14568/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kelly Sanders & Carey King & Ashlynn Stillwell & Michael Webber, 2013. "Clean energy and water: assessment of Mexico for improved water services and renewable energy," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1303-1321, October.
    2. Imtiaz Ashraf & Rong Li & Bin Chen & Nadhir Al-Ansari & Muhammad Rizwan Aslam & Adnan Raza Altaf & Ahmed Elbeltagi, 2022. "Nanoarchitectonics and Kinetics Insights into Fluoride Removal from Drinking Water Using Magnetic Tea Biochar," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-21, October.
    3. Patrick Levallois & Cristina M. Villanueva, 2019. "Drinking Water Quality and Human Health: An Editorial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-4, February.
    4. Yun-Yun Wu & Yong-Zhong Ma & Hong-Xing Cui & Jian-Xiang Liu & Ya-Ru Sun & Bing Shang & Xu Su, 2014. "Radon Concentrations in Drinking Water in Beijing City, China and Contribution to Radiation Dose," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-11, October.
    5. Hashemi, Sajedeh Sadat Ghazizadeh & Mahmud, Hilmi Bin & Ashraf, Muhammad Aqeel, 2015. "Performance of green roofs with respect to water quality and reduction of energy consumption in tropics: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 669-679.
    6. Rockström, Johan & Karlberg, Louise & Wani, Suhas P. & Barron, Jennie & Hatibu, Nuhu & Oweis, Theib & Bruggeman, Adriana & Farahani, Jalali & Qiang, Zhu, 2010. "Managing water in rainfed agriculture--The need for a paradigm shift," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 543-550, April.
    7. Hone-Jay Chu & Chun-Yu Liu & Chi-Kuei Wang, 2013. "Identifying the Relationships between Water Quality and Land Cover Changes in the Tseng-Wen Reservoir Watershed of Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-12, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nesterenko Sergey & Vyatkin Konstantin, 2017. "The study of land management and geographic information support of municipal building in Ukraine," Technology audit and production reserves, 1(33) 2017, Socionet;Technology audit and production reserves, vol. 1(4(33)), pages 24-28.
    2. Islam, AFM Tariqul & Islam, AKM Saiful & Islam, GM Tarekul & Bala, Sujit Kumar & Salehin, Mashfiqus & Choudhury, Apurba Kanti & Dey, Nepal C. & Hossain, Akbar, 2022. "Adaptation strategies to increase water productivity of wheat under changing climate," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    3. Shekhar, Jai & Suri, Dhruv & Somani, Priyanshi & Lee, Stephen J. & Arora, Mahika, 2021. "Reduced renewable energy stability in India following COVID-19: Insights and key policy recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    4. Weixing Ma & Tinglin Huang & Xuan Li & Zizhen Zhou & Yang Li & Kang Zeng, 2015. "The Effects of Storm Runoff on Water Quality and the Coping Strategy of a Deep Canyon-Shaped Source Water Reservoir in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Ryohei Yamada & Masahiro Hosoda & Tomomi Tabe & Yuki Tamakuma & Takahito Suzuki & Kevin Kelleher & Takakiyo Tsujiguchi & Yoshiki Tateyama & Eka Djatnika Nugraha & Anna Okano & Yuki Narumi & Chutima Kr, 2022. "222 Rn and 226 Ra Concentrations in Spring Water and Their Dose Assessment Due to Ingestion Intake," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, February.
    6. Feng Huang & Baoguo Li, 2020. "What is the Redline Water Withdrawal for Crop Production in China?—Projection to 2030 Derived from the Past Twenty-Year Trajectory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Hanjra, Munir A. & Qureshi, M. Ejaz, 2010. "Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 365-377, October.
    8. Datta, Nirupam, 2015. "Evaluating Impacts of Watershed Development Program on Agricultural Productivity, Income, and Livelihood in Bhalki Watershed of Bardhaman District, West Bengal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 443-456.
    9. Jamei, E. & Ossen, D.R. & Seyedmahmoudian, M. & Sandanayake, M. & Stojcevski, A. & Horan, B., 2020. "Urban design parameters for heat mitigation in tropics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    10. Vera, Sergio & Pinto, Camilo & Tabares-Velasco, Paulo Cesar & Bustamante, Waldo, 2018. "A critical review of heat and mass transfer in vegetative roof models used in building energy and urban enviroment simulation tools," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 752-764.
    11. Dereje Mengistie & Desale Kidane, 2016. "Assessment of the Impact of Small-Scale Irrigation on Household Livelihood Improvement at Gubalafto District, North Wollo, Ethiopia," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-22, June.
    12. Ndung’u, M. & Mugwe, J.N. & Mucheru-Muna, M.W. & Ngetich, F.K. & Mairura, F.S. & Mugendi, D.N., 2023. "Tied-ridging and soil inputs enhance small-scale maize productivity and profitability under erratic rainfall conditions in central Kenya," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    13. Marta Antonelli & Martina Sartori, 2014. "Unfolding the Potential of the Virtual Water Concept. What is still under debate?," IEFE Working Papers 74, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    14. Glendenning, C.J. & van Ogtrop, F.F. & Mishra, A.K. & Vervoort, R.W., 2012. "Balancing watershed and local scale impacts of rain water harvesting in India—A review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-13.
    15. Nan Xu & Jiancheng Luo & Jin Zuo & Xiaodong Hu & Jing Dong & Tianjun Wu & Songliang Wu & Hao Liu, 2020. "Accurate Suitability Evaluation of Large-Scale Roof Greening Based on RS and GIS Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-23, May.
    16. Wang, Huabing & Xie, Tianyun & Yu, Xiaohong & Zhang, Chi, 2021. "Simulation of soil loss under different climatic conditions and agricultural farming economic benefits: The example of Yulin City on Loess Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    17. Manso, Maria & Teotónio, Inês & Silva, Cristina Matos & Cruz, Carlos Oliveira, 2021. "Green roof and green wall benefits and costs: A review of the quantitative evidence," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Amjath-Babu, T.S. & Krupnik, Timothy J. & Kaechele, Harald & Aravindakshan, Sreejith & Sietz, Diana, 2016. "Transitioning to groundwater irrigated intensified agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: An indicator based assessment," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 125-135.
    19. Assefa, Shibeshi & Biazin, Birhanu & Muluneh, Alemayehu & Yimer, Fantaw & Haileslassie, Amare, 2016. "Rainwater harvesting for supplemental irrigation of onions in the southern dry lands of Ethiopia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 325-334.
    20. McCord, Paul & Waldman, Kurt & Baldwin, Elizabeth & Dell'Angelo, Jampel & Evans, Tom, 2018. "Assessing multi-level drivers of adaptation to climate variability and water insecurity in smallholder irrigation systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 296-308.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14568-:d:1255350. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.