Rainwater harvesting: An option for sustainable rural water supply in Ghana

Potable water is a critical for improved health and for the pursuit of various socio-economic activities. Despite its immense usefulness, rural communities in developing countries such as Ghana lack adequate access to potable water. Rainwater harvesting, which has the potential of providing potable water for rural communities in Ghana and can be undertaken largely with local resources is rarely utilized. The purpose of this paper is to present rainwater harvesting as a sustainable water supply strategy for domestic use and is based on research undertaken in two rural communities in Ghana. The paper identifies opportunities such as affordability and user ownership as well as constraining bottlenecks that include poor roofing materials, lack of appropriate harvesting facilities and housing occupancy status as factors influencing rainwater harvesting practices by rural communities. It then proposes measures to resolve these and other difficulties associated with rainwater harvesting and thereby enhance its potential for sustainable rural water supply.