Options for microbiological quality improvement in African households

Abstract

Waterborne infections remain a critical health problem globally and particularly in Africa, where an estimated 39% of people still use unimproved water sources for drinking and other domestic purposes. This chapter discusses various household water treatment (HWT) methods that can be used in Africa to eliminate or reduce pathogen-causing diseases to produce safe drinking water in communities. Publications were systematically searched for studies describing cost-effective HWT systems and methods. Between 2008 and 2018, only 12 out of 36 were implemented in eight African countries. High-performing methods for bacterial removal were biosand-zeolite silver-impregnated clay granular filters (BSZ-SICG), cloth, silver-impregnated porous pot filters (SIPP), fibreglass, solar cookers, solar pasteurization (SOPAS), iron oxide, NaDCC tablets, sodium hypochlorite, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. For protozoan removal, high performers were barrel filters, biosand filters, BSZ-SICG, bucket filters, ceramic candle filters, ceramic pot filters, Indian cloth, colloidal silver-impregnated ceramic filter (CSF), diatomaceous earth water filters, SIPP, solar disinfection (SODIS) and solar cookers. Best-performing removal methods were ceramic candle filters, ceramic pot filters, CSF, SIPP, fibreglass, SODIS, solar cookers and iron oxide. Future research should investigate social acceptability, HWT visually appealing designs, a higher flow rate, portability of systems and cost-effectiveness.