In view of the water scarcity that affects the population of the northeastern semiarid, policies have been created to live with the drought, such as the construction of cisterns to capture rainwater.However, several factors can affect the quality of water stored in cisterns. In this context, monitoring the quality of the water stored in them is essential to assess their potability for human consumption.Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of water in cisterns in a rural community in the semiarid region of Ceará.The research was carried out in the Arraial de Cima community, in the municipality of Missão Velha, located in the extreme south of the state of Ceará, Brazil.Samples were collected directly from cisterns