Évaluation de la qualité de l'eau de pluie en vue de son utilisation: vers la définition de paramètres pertinents et de protocoles adaptés

In France, the utilization of harvested rainwater (HRW) has grown in recent years and thus raises the questions related with its quality corresponding to some types of use. Some utilizations are currently regulated: outdoor uses (such as lawn watering and floor cleaning) and indoor uses (toilet flushing, floor cleaning and, "for experimental use", laundry washing). If the French regulation requires some obligations of means corresponding to certain categories of HRW uses, there are no quality criteria determining the reference values of a set of well-defined parameters neither appropriate analytical methods in order to adequately characterize the HRW quality regarding its uses. In this context, the aim of this paper is threefold. The first is, from the identification of frequently used parameters for assessing the HRW quality in the scientific literature, to suggest a set of relevant parameters according to different categories of HRW uses. The second is to propose some adapted standard protocols for analysis of fecal indicators in order to assess the quality of the HRW. The final objective is to analyze some foreign existing regulations specifically dedicated to quality assessment of the HRW towards establishing guidelines values according to the uses.