Sanitary inspection of wells using risk-of-contamination scoring indicates a high predictive ability for bacterial faecal pollution

June 22, 2012 · 0 comments

Journal of Water and Health Vol 10 No 2 pp 236–243 2012

Sanitary inspection of wells using risk-of-contamination scoring indicates a high predictive ability for bacterial faecal pollution in the peri-urban tropical lowlands of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Douglas Mushi, Denis Byamukama, Alexander K.T. Kirschner, Robert L. Mach, K. Brunner and Andreas H. Farnleitner

Department of Biological Sciences, Sokoine University, P.O. Box 3038, Morogoro, Tanzania
Department of Biochemistry, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda
Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Institute of Chemical Engineering, Research Area Applied Biochemistry and Gene Technology, Research Group Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Ecology, Vienna University of Technology, Gumpendorferstraße 1a, A-1060 Vienna, Austria E-mail: A.FARNLEITNER@aon.at
InterUniversity Cooperation Centre Water and Health www.waterandheatlh.at

Sanitary inspection of wells was performed according to World Health Organization (WHO) procedures using risk-of-contamination (ROC) scoring in the peri-urban tropical lowlands of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The ROC was assessed for its capacity to predict bacterial faecal pollution in the investigated well water. The analysis was based on a selection of wells representing environments with low to high presumptive faecal pollution risk and a multi-parametric data set of bacterial indicators, generating a comprehensive picture of the level and characteristics of faecal pollution (such as vegetative Escherichia coli cells, Clostridium perfringens spores and human-associated sorbitol fermenting Bifidobacteria).

ROC scoring demonstrated a remarkable ability to predict bacterial faecal pollution levels in the investigated well water (e.g. 87% of E. coli concentration variations were predicted by ROC scoring). Physicochemical characteristics of the wells were not reflected by the ROC scores. Our results indicate that ROC scoring is a useful tool for supporting health-related well water management in urban and suburban areas of tropical, developing countries. The outcome of this study is discussed in the context of previously published results, and future directions are suggested.

Practical Surveillance of Water Quality in a Low-Resource Setting: a pilot program

June 21, 2012 · 0 comments

Acta Trop. 2012 Jun 16.

Practical Surveillance of Water Quality in a Low-Resource Setting: a pilot program.

Chang K, Greeley C. School of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX.

Diarrheal diseases represent a tremendous health burden in low-resource countries affecting child mortality. The main sources of diarrheal diseases are water source contamination and fecal-oral transmission. A major obstacle in disease control is the ability to identify and monitor water source quality for potential infectious contamination.

We explore a technique for real-time surveillance of coliform bacteria contamination in water sources which is of modest cost and does not require electricity. Specifically, we used body heat as a source for thermal regulation in contrast to traditional incubation for the enumeration of coliforms on 3M petrifilm™E.coli/Coliform count plates.

Our data support that the body heat incubation technique is a promising strategy for water source surveillance in low resource settings.

Pumps, Germs and Storage: The Impact of Improved Water Containers on Water Quality and Health

June 21, 2012 · 1 comment

Health Econ. 2012 Jun 14. doi: 10.1002/hec.2852.

Pumps, Germs and Storage: The Impact of Improved Water Containers on Water Quality and Health

Günther I, Schipper Y., ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Email: isabel.guenther@nadel.ethz.ch.

Applying a randomized controlled trial, we study the impact of improved water transport and storage containers on the water quality and health of poor rural households. The results indicate that improved household water infrastructure improves water quality and health outcomes in an environment where point-of-source water quality is good but where recontamination is widespread, leading to unsafe point-of-use drinking water.

Moreover, usage rates of 88% after 7 months are encouraging with regard to sustainable adoption. Our estimates suggest that the provision of improved household water infrastructure could ‘keep clean water clean’ at a cost of only 5% of the costs of providing households with improved public water supply.

Given the general consensus in the literature that recontamination of water from improved public sources is a severe public health problem, improved transport and storage technologies appear to be an effective low-cost supplement to the current standard of financing public water supply for poor rural communities.

Indigenous Water Filtration Technique in Rural Areas of Assam: A Study on Iron Removal by Bamboo Charcoals

June 7, 2012 · 1 comment

Indigenous Water Filtration Technique in Rural Areas of Assam: A Study on Iron Removal by Bamboo Charcoals, 2012.

Bhupen Kumar Baruah, et al.

Deterioration of groundwater quality due to geogenic and anthropogenic activities is now a serious issue all over the world. Evidences of contamination of groundwater resources prevail in many areas of India, particularly Assam. More than 80% of the rural population of Assam depend on groundwater resources for drinking and irrigation. The iron quantity in the groundwater of Assam is found to be between the desirable to permissible limits almost throughout the state.

Iron, the common household water contaminant, has no direct health effect at concentrations generally found in groundwater. But high concentration causes staining, offensive taste and odor. The rural population of Assam frequently use sand, pebbles, charcoal and lime in their common water filtration technique for water purification.

A study was carried out on the common indigenous water filtration technique using four different bamboo charcoals (Bhaluka, Jati, Makal and Bijuli) separately for iron removal. The study reveals that all the four types of bamboo charcoal could effectively remove iron from water. However, charcoal from Bambusa balcooa (Bhaluka) is more capable of decreasing the iron levels to desirable limits.

Manufacturing a Low-Cost Ceramic Water Filter and Filter System for the Elimination of Common Pathogenic Bacteria

June 7, 2012 · 1 comment

Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, 31 May 2012

Manufacturing a Low-Cost Ceramic Water Filter and Filter System for the Elimination of Common Pathogenic Bacteria

J.J. Simonisa, A.K. Bassonb
a Department of Hydrology, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, P Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa, 3886, South Africa
b Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa

One simple but effective way of making sure that water is of good quality is by purifying it by means of a household ceramic water filter. The making and supply of water filters suitable for the removal of suspended solids, pathogenic bacteria and other toxins from drinking water is therefore critical. A micro-porous ceramic water filter with micron-sized pores was developed using the traditional slip casting process. This locally produced filter has the advantage of making use of less raw materials, cost, labour, energy and expertise and being more effective and efficient than other low cost produced filters. The filter is fitted with a silicone tube inserted into a collapsible bag that acts as container and protection for the filter. Enhanced flow is obtained through this filter system. The product was tested using water inoculated with high concentrations of different bacterial cultures as well as with locally polluted stream water. The filter is highly effective (Log10 >4 with 99.99% reduction efficiency) in providing protection from bacteria and suspended solids found in natural water. With correct cleaning and basic maintenance this filter technology can effectively provide drinking water to rural families affected by polluted surface water sources. This is an African solution for the more than 340 million people in Africa without access to clean drinking water (WHO and UNICEF, 2008).

HIV and H(2)O: Tracing the Connections Between Gender, Water and HIV

June 6, 2012 · 0 comments

AIDS Behav. 2012 Jun 4.

HIV and H(2)O: Tracing the Connections Between Gender, Water and HIV.

West BS, Hirsch JS, El-Sadr W.

Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA, bsw2110@columbia.edu.

The health consequences for HIV-affected families of insufficient access to safe water and sanitation are particularly dire: inadequate access complicates medication adherence and increases vulnerability to opportunistic infections for persons living with HIV. The gendered nature of water collection and HIV care-with women disproportionately bearing the burden in both areas-presents an unrealized opportunity to improve HIV outcomes through investments in water/sanitation.

We synthesize the literature on HIV and water/sanitation to develop a conceptual model that maps the connections between women’s double burden of resource collection and HIV care. Drawing on theories of gender and systems science, we posit that there are multiple paths through which improved water/sanitation could improve HIV-related outcomes.

Our findings suggest that the positive synergies of investing in water/sanitation in high HIV prevalence communities that are also expanding access to ART would be significant, with health multiplying effects that impact women and entire communities.

Willingness to pay for cleaner water in less developed countries

June 5, 2012 · 0 comments

Willingness to pay for cleaner water in less developed countries: systematic review of experimental evidence, 2012.

Clair Null, Emory University, et al.

The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)

Background: Diarrheal diseases kill two million children every year despite the availability of effective and inexpensive technologies to improve water quality and limit the spread of pathogens. There is a growing literature on the effectiveness of such technologies but important gaps remain in understanding the demand for these products and the adoption decision.

Methods: This review expands upon and complements several existing summary articles by focusing on willingness to pay for cleaner water. Willingness to pay can be measured by price randomizations that induce people to reveal their valuation in real purchase decisions or by other methods such as contingent valuation exercises in hypothetical situations and discrete choice analysis. The review conducts a systematic search for experimental evidence on willingness to pay for cleaner water.

Results: This review finds few studies that have used randomized approaches or even attempted to measure households’ willingness to pay for cleaner water, but a very clear picture emerges from the existing evidence:  willingness to pay is often less than the cost of these technologies and demand is very sensitive to price. Existing evidence suggests that positive prices do not effectively target products to those who need them the most and that positive prices are a key barrier to realizing potential gains associated with water treatment.

Implications: Given the evidence of low valuation for water quality, despite the impact of water-borne disease on child health, the challenge for research and policy is to identify innovative service delivery models and technological innovations that drive prices down and make public subsidies more feasible. Future willingness to pay studies should be based on real purchases and use. Experimental methods to collect estimates of willingness to pay are easily justified as promotional discounts and could be implemented via coupon programs that make it possible to assemble large datasets quickly and cheaply.

 

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Plastic-Housing BioSand Filter and Its Impact on Diarrheal Disease in Copan, Honduras

June 4, 2012 · 0 comments

Am Jnl Trop Med Hyg, June 2012

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Plastic-Housing BioSand Filter and Its Impact on Diarrheal Disease in Copan, Honduras

Anna M. Fabiszewski de Aceituno, et al.

Point of use drinking water treatment with the BioSand filter (BSF) allows people to treat their water in the home. The purpose of this research was to document the ability of the Hydraid plastic-housing BSF to reduce diarrheal disease in households who received a BSF in a randomized controlled trial. The trial of the Hydraid plastic-housing BSF was carried out in rural, mountainous communities in Copan, Honduras during April of 2008 to February of 2009.

A logistic regression adjusting for clustering showed that the incidence of diarrheal disease in children under 5 years was reduced by approximately 45% (odds ratio = 0.55, 95% confidence interval = 0.28, 1.10) in households that had a BSF compared with those households without a BSF, but this finding fluctuated depending on season and was not statistically significant. Households with a BSF had significantly better drinking water quality regardless of water source or season.

PATH Safe Water Project’s Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

June 1, 2012 · 0 comments

PATH Safe Water Project’s Monitoring and Evaluation Framework: Testing Market-Based Solutions in Four Countries, 2011.

Kols A. PATH.

PATH’s Safe Water Project is implementing innovative methods to enable commercial enterprises to produce, distribute, sell, and maintain effective household water treatment and storage products for low-income populations in multiple developing countries around the world.

This technical brief summarizes the monitoring and evaluation framework that was used to analyze the success of various market-based approaches that PATH tested in India, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Kenya.

PATH – Our End-Users as Co-Designers

June 1, 2012 · 0 comments

Our End-Users as Co-Designers: Development of the Safe Water Project Reference Design and Design Guidelines, 2011.

Wittet S. PATH.

PATH’s Safe Water Project is implementing innovative methods to enable commercial enterprises to produce, distribute, sell, and maintain effective household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) products for low-income populations in multiple developing countries around the world.

This project brief summarizes PATH’s product development process to design an HWTS device that specifically meets the needs of low- and middle-income families. This brief also describes PATH’s efforts to create a set of design guidelines for HWTS devices.

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