This article is crafted around assessment and analysis of health risks associated with domestic rooftop water harvesting in India, with the prime objective of bringing to the forefront the deterrent issues and challenges in rainwater harvesting in general and domestic rooftop water harvesting in particular. This is based on a study on health risk assessment of a domestic rooftop water harvesting project conducted in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan, India, providing a critical reflection and exemplifying the prevalent scenario in the arid regions of the world. The methodology used for deriving the conclusions is failure mode and effects analysis. A set of risks were graded according to their severity based on their risk priority number scores evolved, including various contaminants polluting the harvested rainwater. The findings bear implications for planning of reconstructive changes to be incorporated and thus providing the necessary outlook for effective alleviation of the deterrents and make rainwater harvesting the premium solution for realization of the Millennium Development Goals by providing access to safe drinking water to the populace chiefly in the developing countries where the problem of scarce safe water is grave.