In rural areas of Northwest China, rainwater harvesting appears to be the most promising alternative for supplying drinking water in the face of increasing water scarcity and escalating demand. The quality of collected cistern rainwater in rural Northwest China was assessed. The results show that most of the collected cistern rainwater quality parameters in rural Northwest China conformed to drinking water quality standard in China, except turbidity, CODMn, and total coliforms. A UV disinfection system was proposed to polish the collected cistern rainwater. After UV treatment, the removal efficiencies of turbidity, CODMn and total coliforms were 73.7-82.2%, 60.0-76.4% and 93.9-100%, respectively. The treatment of collected cistern rainwater could provide water adequate to safe drinking water guidelines.