IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i20p5606-d275522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Making Rainwater Harvesting a Key Solution for Water Management: The Universality of the Kilimanjaro Concept

Author

Listed:
  • Qinwen Qi

    (College of International Languages and Cultures of Hohai University, Fo Cheng Xi Road 8, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Janeth Marwa

    (Department of Humanities, Governance, and Leadership, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha P.O. Box 447, Tanzania)

  • Tulinave Burton Mwamila

    (Department of Water Resources and Irrigation Engineering, Water Institute, Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 35059, Tanzania)

  • Willis Gwenzi

    (Biosystems and Environmental Engineering Research Group, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe, Mount Pleasant, Harare P.O. Box MP167, Zimbabwe)

  • Chicgoua Noubactep

    (School of Earth Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Fo Cheng Xi Road 8, Nanjing 211100, China
    Department of Applied Geology, Universität Göttingen, Goldschmidtstraße 3, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany)

Abstract

Rainwater is conventionally perceived as an alternative drinking water source, mostly needed to meet water demand under particular circumstances, including under semi-arid conditions and on small islands. More recently, rainwater has been identified as a potential source of clean drinking water in cases where groundwater sources contain high concentrations of toxic geogenic contaminants. Specifically, this approach motivated the introduction of the Kilimanjaro Concept (KC) to supply fluoride-free water to the population of the East African Rift Valley (EARV). Clean harvested rainwater can either be used directly as a source of drinking water or blended with polluted natural water to meet drinking water guidelines. Current efforts towards the implementation of the KC in the EARV are demonstrating that harvesting rainwater is a potential universal solution to cover ever-increasing water demands while limiting adverse environmental impacts such as groundwater depletion and flooding. Indeed, all surface and subsurface water resources are replenished by precipitation (dew, hail, rain, and snow), with rainfall being the main source and major component of the hydrological cycle. Thus, rainwater harvesting systems entailing carefully harvesting, storing, and transporting rainwater are suitable solutions for water supply as long as rain falls on earth. Besides its direct use, rainwater can be infiltrating into the subsurface when and where it falls, thereby increasing aquifer recharge while minimizing soil erosion and limiting floods. The present paper presents an extension of the original KC by incorporating Chinese experience to demonstrate the universal applicability of the KC for water management, including the provision of clean water for decentralized communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Qinwen Qi & Janeth Marwa & Tulinave Burton Mwamila & Willis Gwenzi & Chicgoua Noubactep, 2019. "Making Rainwater Harvesting a Key Solution for Water Management: The Universality of the Kilimanjaro Concept," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-15, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5606-:d:275522
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5606/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5606/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maxwell C. Wilson & Xiao-Yan Li & Yu-Jun Ma & Andrew T. Smith & Jianguo Wu, 2017. "A Review of the Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts of China’s South–North Water Transfer Project: A Sustainability Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-11, August.
    2. Geels, Frank W., 2002. "Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1257-1274, December.
    3. Jonathan Lilje & Hans-Joachim Mosler, 2016. "Continuation of Health Behaviors: Psychosocial Factors Sustaining Drinking Water Chlorination in a Longitudinal Study from Chad," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Abul Hussam, 2009. "Contending with a Development Disaster: SONO Filters Remove Arsenic from Well Water in Bangladesh (Innovations Case Discussion: SONO Filters)," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 4(3), pages 89-102, July.
    5. Janeth Marwa & Mesia Lufingo & Chicgoua Noubactep & Revocatus Machunda, 2018. "Defeating Fluorosis in the East African Rift Valley: Transforming the Kilimanjaro into a Rainwater Harvesting Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-12, November.
    6. Meishu Wang & Hui Gong, 2019. "Expected Rural Wastewater Treatment Promoted by Provincial Local Discharge Limit Legislation in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-13, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nandi, Santosh & Gonela, Vinay, 2022. "Rainwater harvesting for domestic use: A systematic review and outlook from the utility policy and management perspectives," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Kebede Manjur Gebru & Kifle Woldearegay & Frank van Steenbergen & Aregawi Beyene & Letty Fajardo Vera & Kidane Tesfay Gebreegziabher & Taye Alemayhu, 2020. "Adoption of Road Water Harvesting Practices and Their Impacts: Evidence from a Semi-Arid Region of Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-25, October.
    3. Luigi Pari & Alessandro Suardi & Walter Stefanoni & Francesco Latterini & Nadia Palmieri, 2021. "Economic and Environmental Assessment of Two Different Rain Water Harvesting Systems for Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-13, March.
    4. Giulio Fusco, 2022. "Climate Change and Food Security in the Northern and Eastern African Regions: A Panel Data Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-10, October.
    5. Hakeem Musaed & Ahmed El-Kenawy & Mohamed El Alfy, 2022. "Morphometric, Meteorological, and Hydrologic Characteristics Integration for Rainwater Harvesting Potential Assessment in Southeast Beni Suef (Egypt)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-30, October.

    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. Rui Hu & Arnaud Igor Ndé-Tchoupé & Mesia Lufingo & Minhui Xiao & Achille Nassi & Chicgoua Noubactep & Karoli N. Njau, 2019. "The Impact of Selected Pretreatment Procedures on Iron Dissolution from Metallic Iron Specimens Used in Water Treatment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Fábio T. F. Silva & Alexandre Szklo & Amanda Vinhoza & Ana Célia Nogueira & André F. P. Lucena & Antônio Marcos Mendonça & Camilla Marcolino & Felipe Nunes & Francielle M. Carvalho & Isabela Tagomori , 2022. "Inter-sectoral prioritization of climate technologies: insights from a Technology Needs Assessment for mitigation in Brazil," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 27(7), pages 1-39, October.
    3. Hirt, Léon F. & Sahakian, Marlyne & Trutnevyte, Evelina, 2022. "What subnational imaginaries for solar PV? The case of the Swiss energy transition," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. John A. Mathews, 2020. "Schumpeterian economic dynamics of greening: propagation of green eco-platforms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 929-948, September.
    5. Marco Gallegati, 2019. "A system for dating long wave phases in economic development," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 803-822, July.
    6. Oliver Falck & Anita Fichtl & Tobias Lohse & Friederike Welter & Heike Belitz & Cedric von der Hellen & Carsten Dreher & Carsten Schwäbe & Dietmar Harhoff & Monika Schnitzer & Uschi Backes-Gellner & C, 2019. "Steuerliche Forschungsförderung: Wichtiger Impuls für FuE-Aktivitäten oder zu wenig zielgerichtet?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 72(09), pages 03-25, May.
    7. Wiegand, Julia, 2017. "Dezentrale Stromerzeugung als Chance zur Stärkung der Energie-Resilienz: Eine qualitative Analyse kommunaler Strategien im Raum Unna," Wuppertaler Studienarbeiten zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, volume 11, number 11.
    8. Oliver Wagner & Thomas Adisorn & Lena Tholen & Dagmar Kiyar, 2020. "Surviving the Energy Transition: Development of a Proposal for Evaluating Sustainable Business Models for Incumbents in Germany’s Electricity Market," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, February.
    9. Jordi Molas-Gallart & Alejandra Boni & Sandro Giachi & Johan Schot, 2021. "A formative approach to the evaluation of Transformative Innovation Policies [The Need for Reflexive Evaluation Approaches in Development Cooperation]," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(4), pages 431-442.
    10. Spaniol, Matthew J. & Rowland, Nicholas J., 2022. "Business ecosystems and the view from the future: The use of corporate foresight by stakeholders of the Ro-Ro shipping ecosystem in the Baltic Sea Region," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    11. Upham, Dr Paul & Sovacool, Prof Benjamin & Ghosh, Dr Bipashyee, 2022. "Just transitions for industrial decarbonisation: A framework for innovation, participation, and justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    12. Francesco Lamperti & Giovanni Dosi & Mauro Napoletano & Andrea Roventini & Alessandro Sapio, 2018. "And then he wasn't a she : Climate change and green transitions in an agent-based integrated assessment model," Working Papers hal-03443464, HAL.
    13. Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo & Campos-Celador, Álvaro & Terés-Zubiaga, Jon, 2018. "Renewable Energy Cooperatives as an instrument towards the energy transition in Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 215-229.
    14. Sylvain, Dernat & Bertrand, Dumont & Dominique, Vollet, 2023. "La Grange®: A generic game to reveal trade-offs and synergies among stakeholders in livestock farming areas," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    15. Funcke, Simon & Bauknecht, Dierk, 2016. "Typology of centralised and decentralised visions for electricity infrastructure," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 67-74.
    16. Bessi, Alessandro & Guidolin, Mariangela & Manfredi, Piero, 2021. "The role of gas on future perspectives of renewable energy diffusion: Bridging technology or lock-in?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    17. João Tovar Jalles, 2024. "Financial Crises and Climate Change," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 66(1), pages 166-190, March.
    18. Eleftheria Vasileiadou & Boukje Huijben & Rob Raven, 2014. "Crowdfunding niches? Exploring the potential of crowdfunding for financing renewable energy niches in the Netherlands," Working Papers 14-11, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Nov 2014.
    19. Florian Knobloch & Hector Pollitt & Unnada Chewpreecha & Vassilis Daioglou & Jean-Francois Mercure, 2017. "Simulating the deep decarbonisation of residential heating for limiting global warming to 1.5C," Papers 1710.11019, arXiv.org, revised May 2018.
    20. Pigford, Ashlee-Ann E. & Hickey, Gordon M. & Klerkx, Laurens, 2018. "Beyond agricultural innovation systems? Exploring an agricultural innovation ecosystems approach for niche design and development in sustainability transitions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 116-121.

    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:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5606-:d:275522. 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.