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Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage:
 The
Chlorine Chemistry Foundation® is helping to promote the use of
simple, low-cost technologies to disinfect and safely store water
for household use. These technologies can provide tremendous public
health benefits to the more than 1.1 billion people who rely on
water from unsafe sources. While the ultimate goal should be safe
water piped to every home, household water treatment, together with
safe storage, is an effective and immediate solution.
A growing body of research demonstrates that point-of use treatment
with chlorine disinfectants dramatically improves the microbial
quality of water and can reduce the risk of diarrhoeal disease by
25-50%.
Household approaches, including treatment with chlorine-based
disinfectants, have been shown to be extremely cost effective, rapidly
deployable, and can lead to significant health gains.
- World Health Organization
PUR Water in Ethiopian Schools
 The
Chlorine Chemistry Foundation is helping to provide safe drinking
water to schools in Ethiopia, where poor water conditions lead to
thousands of childhood deaths each year. A 2006 grant to Save the
Children U.S. was used to purchase and distribute 250,000 PUR water
purification sachets to schools in rural communities. PUR, developed
by Proctor & Gamble (P&G) in collaboration with the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), produces high-quality drinking
water from otherwise unsafe sources. It contains calcium hypochlorite
for disinfection and flocculants that cause dirt and other impurities
to precipitate from water. This pilot program, a partnership with
P&G and Population Services International, is an initial step in
a broader, long-term effort to build sustainable commercial markets
for household water treatment products in Ethiopia. Partners hope
to expand quickly to reach thousands more children in 2007.
WHO's Household Water Treatment Network:
Promoting simple, low cost water technologies on a global scale
The Chlorine Chemistry Foundation is helping to promote the widespread
adoption of household water treatment and safe storage by supporting
a network of organizations implementing various projects around
the world. Organized by the World Health Organization, the International
Network to Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (The
Network) includes a diverse group of humanitarian relief organizations,
government agencies, research institutions, and the private companies.
Through the Chlorine Chemistry Foundation, World Chlorine Council
member associations provide financial support for Network activities,
including:
- Independent research to evaluate technologies and practices,
- Communications among members and other stakeholders,
- Advocacy to educate decision makers and funders about
household water programs, and
- Sharing tools and information to improve project implementation.
[Read more about the Network]
Health Impact Study in Ghana
The Chlorine Chemistry Foundation is supporting a safe water evaluation
program in Tamale, Ghana. The study, conducted by CDC, Emory University
and The University of Development Studies and New Energy in Tamale,
will measure the impact on diarrheal disease in households using
Aquatabs for point of use water disinfection. Aquatabs (which contain
sodium dichloroisocyanurate as the active ingredient) have been
used for years in emergency relief efforts. However, long-term use
has been limited because no health impact studies have been conducted.
As with other CDC safe water system programs, water treatment is
combined with hygiene education safe water storage in the home.
Results of the study will be published in 2007.
Safe Water in Bangladesh:
Combating Diarrhea with a Household-based Water Treatment and
Storage System
The Chlorine Chemistry Foundation has supported the pilot testing
of a community-based implementation of the Safe Water System (SWS)
among residents of Baoniabad, a slum community comprised of 2,600
families in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The project is coordinated by the
CDC Foundation, an independent, non-profit enterprise that forges
effective partnerships between the U.S Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and others to fight threats to health and safety.
In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, nearly 90% of source water
samples in one neighborhood were found to have been contaminated
with fecal coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli. Contamination
rates were even higher in stored drinking water samples inside homes.
By implementing the Safe Water System among residents of Baoniabad,
the CDC Foundation aims to increase awareness of how diarrheal disease
can be prevented, and to evaluate the acceptability of in-home chlorination
and storage containers among Bangladeshi families.
The project is being implemented by a locally-based non-governmental
organization with a strong history of commitment to the Dhaka slum
population. The intervention includes delivering behavior change
messages related to water and health, in-home chlorination of water
with a locally-produced sodium hypochlorite solution, and promotion
of safe containers for water storage.
[Read more about CDC
Foundation and the Safe Water System]
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