Performance of Community Water Board-Managed Passive In-Line Chlorinators Supported by a Circuit Rider Program in Rural Honduras

Abstract

This study evaluated the ability of passive chlorinators and the associated kinds of external support necessary to provide adequate free chlorine residual (FCR) for community distribution systems in rural Honduras. We found that 77% of samples, from distribution systems with passive chlorinators installed by EOS International at storage tanks within these distribution systems, had FCR concentrations that met or exceeded the World Health Organization minimum threshold of 0.2 mg/L for point-of-use or piped systems. In EOS-supported communities, passive chlorinators delivered FCR ≥ 0.2 mg/L in 90% of tank samples, 83% of middle-house samples, and 79% of last-house samples. Technical issues accounted for only 26% of all lapses in chlorination (i.e., FCR = 0 mg/L). Occasional and habitual errors of the local water board accounted for 24 and 15% of all lapses. Visit frequency by EOS circuit riders was strongly correlated with positive chlorination outcomes, and technical assistance visits were the most valuable of all visit types. It was also shown that monitoring visits were negatively correlated with other visit types, indicating that monitoring may take place at the expense of more valuable visit types, which highlights the potential need for remote FCR monitoring approaches.