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Bibliography on Point-of-Use Water Disinfection

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  • Biological Sand Filters: Low-Cost Bioremediation Technique for Production of Clean Drinking Water. 2008. IN: Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 9:1G.1.1- 1G.1.28. (pdf, full-text) Michael Lea. Approximately 1.1 billion people in rural and peri-urban communities of developing countries do not have access to safe drinking water. The mortality from diarrheal-related diseases amounts to∼2.2 million people each year from the consumption of unsafewater. Most of them are children under 5 years of age—250 deaths an hour from microbiologically contaminated water. There is conclusive evidence that one low-cost household bioremediation intervention, biological sand filters, are capable of dramatically improving the microbiological quality of drinking water. This unit will describe this relatively newand proven bioremediation technology’s ability to empower at-risk populations to use naturally occurring biology and readily available materials as a sustainable way to achieve the health benefits of safe drinking water.
  • Trop. Med. Hyg., 79(3), 2008, pp. 394-400 - Local Drinking Water Filters Reduce Diarrheal Disease in Cambodia: A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Ceramic Water Purifier, Joe Brown, et al. A randomized, controlled intervention trial of two household-scale drinking water filters was conducted in a rural village in Cambodia. After collecting four weeks of baseline data on household water quality, diarrheal disease, and other data related to water use and handling practices, households were randomly assigned to one of three groups of 60 households: those receiving a ceramic water purifier (CWP), those receiving a second filter employing an iron-rich ceramic (CWP-Fe), and a control group receiving no intervention. Households were followed for 18 weeks post-baseline with biweekly follow-up. Households using either filter reported significantly less diarrheal disease during the study compared with a control group of households without filters as indicated by longitudinal prevalence ratios CWP: 0.51 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.41–0.63); CWP-Fe: 0.58 (95% CI: 0.47–0.71), an effect that was observed in all age groups and both sexes after controlling for clustering within households and within individuals over time
  • m. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 79(3), 2008, pp. 407-413 - Microbiological Effectiveness and Cost of Disinfecting Water by Boiling in Semi-urban IndiaThomas Clasen et al. - Despite shortcomings, boiling is the most common means of treating water at home and the benchmark against which emerging point-of-use water treatment approaches are measured. In a 5-month study, we assessed the microbiological effectiveness and cost of the practice among 218 self-reported boilers relying on unprotected water supplies. Boiling was associated with a 99% reduction in geometric mean fecal coliforms (FCs; P < 0.001). Despite high levels of fecal contamination in source water, 59.6% of stored drinking water samples from self-reported boilers met the World Health Organization standard for safe drinking water (0 FC/100mL), and 5.7% were between 1 and 10 FC/100 mL. Nevertheless, 40.4% of stored drinking water samples were positive for FCs, with 25.1% exceeding 100 FC/100 mL. The estimated monthly fuel cost for boiling was INR 43.8 (US$0.88) for households using liquid petroleum gas and INR 34.7 (US$0.69) for households using wood.

  • Targeting Appropriate Interventions to Minimize Deterioration of Drinking-water Quality in Developing Countries, IN: J HEALTH POPUL NUTR 2008, (pdf, full-text) - This paper proposes a semi-quantified ‘disease risk index’ (DRI) designed to identify communities or households that are ‘most at risk’ from consuming recontaminated drinking-water.

  • A Community-based Bacteriological Study of Quality of Drinking-water and Its Feedback to a Rural Community in Western Maharashtra, India, IN:
    J HEALTH POPUL NUTR 2008 (pdf, full-text) - A longitudinal study of the bacteriological quality of rural water supplies was undertaken for a move­ment towards self-help against diseases, such as diarrhoea, and improved water management through in­creased community participation. Three hundred and thirteen water samples from different sources, such as well, tank, community standpost, handpumps, percolation lakes, and streams, and from households were collected from six villages in Maharashtra, India, over a one-year period.

  • Point of Use Household Drinking Water Filtration: A Practical, Effective Solution for Providing Sustained Access to Safe Drinking Water in the Developing World (pdf, 103KB) IN: Environmental Science & Technology, May 13, 2008 - Web Release Date. by Mark D. Sobsey, Christine E. Stauber, Lisa M. Casanova, Joseph M. Brown, and Mark A. Elliott - The lack of safe water creates a tremendous burden of diarrheal disease and other debilitating, life-threatening illnesses for people in the developing world. Point-of-use (POU) water treatment technology has emerged as an approach that empowers people and communities without access to safe water to improve water quality by treating it in the home. Several POU technologies are available, but, except for boiling, none have achieved sustained, large-scale use. Sustained use is essential if household water treatment technology (HWT) is to provide continued protection, but it is difficult to achieve. The most effective, widely promoted and used POU HWTs are critically examined according to specified criteria for performance and sustainability. Ceramic and biosand household water filters are identified as most effective according to the evaluation criteria applied and as having the greatest potential to become widely used and sustainable for improving household water quality to reduce waterborne disease and death.

  • Water Quality Interventions to Prevent Diarrhoea: Cost and Cost-Effectiveness. 2008. T. Clasen and L. Laurence Haller. Geneva: World Health Organization. (pdf, full-text) - Building on our recent Cochrane review of the effectiveness of water quality interventions to prevent diarrhoea, we collected cost information from 28 country programmes and computed the cost-effectiveness of conventional improvements of water quality at the source (well, borehole, communal stand post) and four interventions to improve water quality at the household level (chlorination, filtration, solar disinfection and combined flocculation/disinfection).

  • Microbiological Effectiveness and Cost of Boiling to Disinfect Drinking Water in Rural Vietnam, by T. Clasen, et. al. IN: Env Sci Tech June 2008. (pdf, full-text) - We assessed the microbiological effectiveness and cost of boiling among a vulnerable population relying on unimproved water sources and commonly practicing boiling as a means of disinfecting water. In a 12 week study among 50 households from a rural community in Vietnam, boiling was associated with a 97% reduction in geometric mean thermotolerant coliforms (TTCs) (p < 0.001). Despite high levels of faecal contamination in source water, 37% of stored water samples from self-reported boilers met the WHO standard for safe drinking water (0 TTC/100 mL), and 38.3% fell within the low risk category (1–10 TTC/100 mL). Nevertheless, 60.5% of stored drinking water samples were positive for TTC, with 22.2% falling into the medium risk category (11–100 TTC/100 mL).

  • Difficulties in Bringing Point-of-Use Water Treatment to Scale in Rural Guatemala. Stephen P. Luby, Carlos Mendoza, Bruce H. Keswick, Tom M. Chiller, AND R. Mike Hoekstra. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 78(3), March 2008, pp. 382-387. In an earlier study in rural Guatemala, 257 households that received flocculant-disinfectant to treat their drinking water had 39% less diarrhea than 257 control households. Three weeks after completion of the study, national marketing of the flocculant-disinfectant was extended into the study communities. Six months later, we assessed frequency of and characteristics associated with purchase and use of the flocculant-disinfectant by revisiting the original study households and administering a questionnaire. Four hundred sixty-two households (90%) completed the follow-up survey; 22 households (5%) purchased the flocculant-disinfectant within the preceding 2 weeks and used it within the last week. Neither being randomized to the intervention group during the efficacy study nor combined spending on laundry soap, toothpaste, and hand soap in the preceding week was associated with active repeat use. Even after efficacy was demonstrated within their community and an aggressive sophisticated marketing approach, few households purchased flocculant-disinfectant for point-of-use water treatment.

  • Household water treatment and safe storage: a review of current implementation practices. by D. Lantagne, R. Quick and E. Mintz. IN: Water Stories: Expanding Opportunities in Small-Scale Water and Sanitation Projects, a report by the Wilson Center's Navigating Peace Initiative, examines alternatives to large-scale infrastructure projects in the water and sanitation sectors. Woodrow Wilson Center, August 2007.

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