Evaluation of the Impact of the Plastic BioSand Filter on Health and Drinking Water Quality in Rural Tamale, Ghana

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Christine E. Stauber²  Byron Kominek³  Kaida R. Liang³  Mumuni K. Osman¹ 

[1] Cowater International Inc., NORST, P.O. Box 1476, Tamale, Ghana;;Institute of Public Health, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3995, Atlanta, GA 30302, USADepartment of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7431, USA;

关键词: water quality;    E. coli;    diarrheal disease;    water treatment;    water filtration;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph9113806

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

A randomized controlled trial of the plastic BioSand filter (BSF) was performed in rural communities in Tamale (Ghana) to assess reductions in diarrheal disease and improvements in household drinking water quality. Few studies of household water filters have been performed in this region, where high drinking water turbidity can be a challenge for other household water treatment technologies. During the study, the longitudinal prevalence ratio for diarrhea comparing households that received the plastic BSF to households that did not receive it was 0.40 (95% confidence interval: 0.05, 0.80), suggesting an overall diarrheal disease reduction of 60%. The plastic BSF achieved a geometric mean reduction of 97% and 67% for E. coli and turbidity, respectively. These results suggest the plastic BSF significantly improved drinking water quality and reduced diarrheal disease during the short trial in rural Tamale, Ghana. The results are similar to other trials of household drinking water treatment technologies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.