By Ayo Taiwo

A Nigerian scholar, Akpan Blessing George, is gaining recognition for a socially relevant thesis completed for the award of a Master of Philosophy degree in Quality Management at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa.

Her research, titled “The Application of Nanotechnology to Improve the Quality of Harvested Rainwater in a Selected Rural Community,” tackles a challenge faced daily by millions of Nigerian households: reliance on rainwater for drinking and domestic use without reliable treatment.

Explaining what inspired the study, Ms George said, “I grew up seeing families depend on rainwater and assume it was safe. I wanted to question that assumption with evidence, not habit.”

She noted that in many Nigerian communities, access to water often exists without assurance of safety.

Although the fieldwork was conducted in the rural Umkomaas community in KwaZulu-Natal, Ms George said the conditions closely reflect realities in Nigeria. Rural and peri-urban communities across states such as Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Benue, Kogi, Anambra and Cross River commonly depend on rainwater due to unreliable public water supply. Roof-based harvesting systems, plastic storage tanks and long storage periods are widespread.

Drawing a direct comparison, she said, “What happens in Umkomaas is not different from what happens in many Nigerian villages. The roofs, the tanks, and the illnesses look the same.”

To capture both scale and lived experience, Ms George adopted a mixed-methods research design. She gathered quantitative data from 221 households using rainwater harvesting systems and conducted in-depth interviews with 16 community members.

“I did not want numbers without people,” she explained. “I wanted to understand how families store water, how long it stays in tanks, and what happens when children fall sick repeatedly.” This, she noted, mirrors Nigerian households where waterborne illnesses are often treated without linking symptoms to water quality.

Her findings revealed familiar patterns. Rooftop rainwater harvesting was dominant because it is affordable and easy to install, while plastic tanks were widely used, often without covers, filtration or routine cleaning. Water was commonly stored for weeks or months and used for cooking, drinking and food preparation. Many respondents reported recurring stomach illnesses such as diarrhea and abdominal pain.

“What shocked me was how sickness had become normal. People were not asking why they were always ill,” Ms George said.

Beyond identifying risks, the thesis proposes a practical solution tailored to rural African settings. Ms George developed a nanotechnology-based household treatment model featuring dual nanofiltration points at the rainwater storage inlet and outlet, reducing contamination during both collection and use.

“The novelty of my work is not just nanotechnology,” she said. “It is designing a solution that works with how rural households already live.”

The proposed system uses wood-based nanofiltration membranes chosen for efficiency, affordability and suitability for decentralized use. The membranes are designed to remove bacteria, heavy metals and chemical pollutants commonly found in harvested rainwater.

“I did not want a solution that only works in a laboratory,” Ms George added. “I wanted something ruaral households could adopt without changing their entire way of life.”

She said the implications for Nigeria are significant, especially as waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhea remain major public health concerns during the rainy season.

“If you improve water quality at home, you reduce clinic visits, missed school days, and lost income,” she said, stressing the importance of prevention in a country where access to healthcare remains uneven.

Ms George also highlighted the policy relevance of her findings, noting that rainwater harvesting is widely used as a coping strategy in Nigeria but often without guidance on treatment and storage safety.

“Access without safety is incomplete,” she said. “If rainwater harvesting is common, then affordable treatment must be part of public health planning.”

Her recommendations include household-level filtration, community education and basic maintenance training, which she said align well with Nigeria’s decentralized governance system.

Beyond water science, the research extends quality management principles into public health and environmental systems. “Water quality is a chain,” Ms George said. “When one link fails, health fails.”

Reflecting on the broader significance of her work, she said the achievement goes beyond academic success abroad.

“This thesis is only the beginning,” Ms George said. “The real success is seeing safer rainwater in Nigerian homes, especially in communities where people have no other option.”