Safe Water Treatment and Storage in the Home

Abstract

In many parts of the developing world, drinking water is collected from unsafe surface sources outside the home and is then held in household storage vessels. Drinking water may be contaminated at the source or during storage; strategies to reduce waterborne disease transmission must safeguard against both events. We describe a two-component prevention strategy, which allows an individual to disinfect drinking water immediately after collection (point-of-use disinfection) and then to store the water in narrow-mouthed, closed vessels designed to prevent recontamination (safe storage). New disinfectant generators and better storage vessel designs make this strategy practical and inexpensive. This approach empowers households and communities that lack potable water to protect themselves against a variety of waterborne pathogens and has the potential to decrease the incidence of waterborne diarrheal disease.

Water Distribution System Deficiencies and Gastrointestinal Illness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In these studies, the observed increase in illness may have been mediated by altered practices in the household during the intermittencies in service, as opposed to pathogen intrusion into pipelines during pressure loss in the system. Such practices could include reverting to alternate sources of water that are of poor quality, secondary contamination of stored water in the household (Mintz et al 1995), or poor hygiene due to reduced quantities of available water (Esrey et al 1991). One study in our review (Huang et al 2011) reported no deterioration in tap water quality following water outages and also found increases in skin and eye infections associated with outages, suggesting that an alternative water-washed pathway was the primary risk factor for the observed increase in GII symptoms.…”

Measuring household consumption and waste in unmetered, intermittent piped water systems

“…Storing UV-treated water in garrafones significantly reduced E. coli levels compared to other commonly used containers (tinajas, buckets, and plastic coolers). Our results imply that water treatment programs should strongly emphasize the recontamination risks of storing water in containers that are not covered, have a wide opening, or require dipping a cup for extraction (Mintz et al, 1995;Trevett et al, 2005). Going forward, the Mesita Azul program should incorporate more evidence-based behavior change strategies (Figueroa and Kincaid, 2010) to promote safe storage habits.…”

“…Household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) is an important option for people whose drinking water sources do not meet microbiological water quality guidelines (Mintz et al, 1995;Rosa and Clasen, 2010). Several studies have found that HWTS can reduce self-reported diarrhea outcomes (Arnold and Colford Jr, 2007;Clasen et al, 2009;Fewtrell et al, 2005;Sobsey, 2002).…”

Water and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhoea in rural Afghanistan: a randomized controlled study

“…Each of these interventions has been shown to be effective in reducing diarrhoea in studies elsewhere (Esrey et al 1991;Mintz et al 1995;Quick et al 1999;Curtis & Cairncross 2003;Luby et al 2004;Fewtrell et al 2005;Clasen et al 2006), but there is little evidence regarding their level of effectiveness in Afghanistan. Diarrhoea was also measured in a control population ('Control').…”