CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter is designed to explore the purification of water through the process of
distillation. To give the comprehensive view of this research, review of related literature and
studies whether conceptual or research literature are presented below.

2.1 Conceptual Literature

Doctor Gundo Weiler, a WHO Representative in the Philippines, said, “Water is an

extremely important resource that we cannot live without. But there are Filipinos who are still
being left behind in terms of access to improved water sources.” Despite the access of some
portion of the population to improved water, people still rely on purchasing their water from
commercial sources, thus accounting for a high percentage of average Filipino’s monthly wage.
This shows that even Filipinos are affected in an economical perspective regarding reliable and
sustainable sources of water and sanitation. The study of Charles Milagros (2007) stressed that
millions of people worldwide suffer from lack of water, the importance of water is well known
and the problems facing water sources have been well documented. According to him, there are
many factors that compromise quantity and quality of water supply sources in some developing
countries. Furthermore, rainwater harvesting, the collection of rain from surfaces upon which it
falls, is a long-standing practice of many countries still used as a means for dealing with the
water problems of today.

According to Kim et al. (2005), rainwater harvesting may be one of the best methods
available to recovering the natural hydrologic cycle and enabling urban development to become
sustainable. The harvesting of rainwater has the potential to assist in alleviating pressures on
current water supplies and storm water drainage systems. Rainwater collection has the potential
to impact many people in the world. As water harvesting is an ancient tradition and has been
used for millennia in most dry lands of the world, many different techniques have been
developed. However, according to Oweis (n. d.), the same techniques sometimes have different
names in different regions and others have similar names but, in practice, are completely
different. Consequently, there are a dozen of different definitions and classifications of water
harvesting techniques and the terminology used at the regional and international levels has not
yet been standardized, mentioned by Nasri (2022).

Ogwu, et. al. (2022) mentioned that Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is far from a novel
practice, as its use has been documented in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Traditionally
implemented in regions with limited access to water resources, RWH was commonplace in India,
Jordan and other parts of Asia, Italy, South America, and portions of Africa from the Middle
Ages through the late 1900s. The 20th and 21st centuries have brought population growth,
climate change and increasing water supply shortages to many areas, including Australia,
Germany, China, and the United States; thus, RWH systems have grown in popularity and
quantity in recent years as an alternative water supply in these regions.

Previous studies by Abdullah, et. al. (2010) on harvested rainwater quality have produced
contradictory conclusions, with some claiming harvested rainwater was severely polluted while
others concluded that it was unpolluted. According to Abbasi, et. al. ( 2011), as more research
has become available, it has become apparent that the quality of harvested rainwater is
determined by the environment in which a given system is located and the materials used to
construct said system. Woodard (2022) stated that Rainwater harvesting is a viable method of
saving money on your water bill while simultaneously helping the environment. While most
homeowners opt to use rainwater for outdoor applications, such as washing cars and watering
plants, others might wish to pipe this water inside their homes. Transporting rainwater indoors
raises many concerns regarding the safety of using rainwater for drinking, cooking, and other
indoor applications.

In the past, it was believed that rainwater was pure and could be consumed without pre-
treatment. While this may be true in some areas that are relatively unpolluted, rainwater collected
in many locations contains impurities. Particularly during the last three decades, “acid rain” has
affected the quality of the collected water, to the point where it now usually requires treatment,
per Ciaraco, et. al. (2021).

According to Chaitanya (2018), rainwater is considered the purest form of water. By the
purest form of water, it is meant that rainwater has a low mineral composition and acidic content.
But that does not mean it is safe to directly drink the rainwater. Even though its natural
composition is neutral, the rainwater drops do pick up pollutants and dirt from the atmosphere,
especially in the areas of high chemical industries and nuclear explosions. There are more
reasons that support the need for purifying rainwater before using it as potable water.

Distillation is the simplest method of water purification. The water is boiled which can
evaporate the impurities and the condensed purified water is collected in the containers. About 5-
10% of the water is lost due to evaporation. The distillation process is capable of removing
almost all substances from the water except for volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). Song Phung
(n. d.) mentioned that Distillation is effective at separating harmful elements, bacteria, and
viruses from water. This makes it a one-step process for making rainwater potable. Water
distillers are not filters in the traditional sense. Rather, they heat water past its boiling point,
collect the water vapor on the distiller’s ceiling, and cool down the steam to a liquid form.
Distillation can achieve both the filtration and disinfection stages for purifying rainwater in one
phase, but it does so slowly and in limited batches. Because microorganisms do not evaporate,
the water that turns to vapor becomes free of these bacteria and viruses.

According in britannica (2023), distillation is a process involving the conversion of a

liquid into vapour that is subsequently condensed back to liquid form. It is exemplified at its
simplest when steam from a kettle becomes deposited as drops of distilled water on a cold
surface. Distillation is used to separate liquids from nonvolatile solids, as in the separation of
alcoholic liquors from fermented materials, or in the separation of two or more liquids having
different boiling points, as in the separation of gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oil from crude
oil. Other industrial applications include the processing of such chemical products as
formaldehyde and phenol and the desalination of seawater. The distillation process appears to
have been utilized by the earliest experimentalists. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) mentioned that pure
water is made by the evaporation of seawater. Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) described a primitive
method of condensation in which the oil obtained by heating rosin is collected on wool placed in
the upper part of an apparatus known as a still.

As indicated by Kamrin, et. al. (1990), The effectiveness of distillation in removing

organic compounds varies, depending on such chemical characteristics of the organic compound
as solubility and boiling point. Organic compounds that boil at temperatures greater than the
boiling point of water (some pesticides) can be effectively removed from the water. Organic
compounds that boil at temperatures lower than the boiling point of water (ex., benzene and
toluene) will be vaporized along with the water. If these harmful compounds are not removed
prior to condensation, they will re-contaminate the purified product. As explained by Nichols (n.
d.), In a distillation, a liquid is boiled in the "distilling flask," then the vapors travel to another
section of the apparatus where they come into contact with a cool surface. The vapors condense
on this cool surface, and the condensed liquid (called the "distillate") drips into a reservoir
separated from the original liquid. In the simplest terms, a distillation involves boiling a liquid,
then condensing the gas and collecting the liquid elsewhere.

2.2 Research Literature

A study by Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2016) found out that there are about 4 billion people
who experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. That is
approximately two-thirds of the global population experiencing this problem in water scarcity.
Additionally, it is estimated that around 50 to 70 percent of the world’s natural wetland area has
been lost over the last 100 years, according to United Nations (2019). National Geographic also
stated that 3.3 million people around the world are dying because of dirty water and lack of a
toilet and proper hygiene, having most of them as children under five years old. The rapid
growth of the global population is resulting in a continuous increase in water demand as well,
putting the limited global water reserves in a bind.

Guarino (2016) stated that, while the human population has doubled in the last 50 years,
there has also been a corresponding growth in industrialization and economic development,
which increases water usage, water ecosystems transformation, and huge loss of biodiversity.
The lack of access to reliable and usable water resources is a major issue not only because the
global water demand cannot be accommodated, but also because it leaves the people with no
choice but to settle for unsafe water resource alternatives. Most of these alternative sources pose
several threats regarding the health and safety of the people who will be making use of it. Around
827,000 people from low and middle-income countries die each year because of inadequate
water, sanitation, and hygiene, with around 432,000 of those deaths to be caused by poor
sanitation, per World Health Organization (2019). It is forecasted that half of the world’s
population will already be living in water-stressed areas by 2025, and around 700 million people
are expected to be displaced from their homes or communities by the year 2030 due to intense
water scarcity.

According to Lade (2013), Rainwater harvesting potential in the area of study in Nigeria
potentially met the harvested domestic rainwater, non-potable household water demand and
household potable water demand for a six-member household. Meanwhile, according to Olanike,
et. al. (2009), Abeokuta has a mean annual rainfall of 1,156 mm where annually 74.0 m3 of
rainwater are harvested per household which sufficiently supply their monthly household water
demand for flushing and laundry and to supplement the short fall in the dry months provided
however then they have adequate storage.