Abstract
Recontamination during transport and storage is a common challenge of water supply in low-income settings, especially if water is collected manually. Chlorination is a strategy to reduce recontamination. We assessed seven low-cost, non-electrically powered chlorination devices in gravity-driven membrane filtration (GDM) kiosks in eastern Uganda: one floater, two in-line dosers, three end-line dosers (tap-attached), and one manual dispenser. The evaluation criteria were dosing consistency, user-friendliness, ease of maintenance, local supply chain, and cost. Achieving an adequate chlorine dosage (∼2 mg/L at the tap and ≥ 0.2 mg/L after 24 h of storage in a container) was challenging. The T-chlorinator was the most promising option for GDM kiosks: it achieved correct dosage (CD, 1.5–2.5 mg/L) with a probability of 90 per cent, was easy to use and maintain, economical, and can be made from locally available materials. The other in-line option, the chlorine-dosing bucket (40 per cent CD) still needs design improvements. The end-line options AkvoTur (67 per cent CD) and AquatabsFlo® (57 per cent CD) are easy to install and operate at the tap, but can be easily damaged in the GDM set-up. The Venturi doser (52 per cent CD) did not perform satisfactorily with flow rates > 6 L/min. The chlorine dispenser (52 per cent CD) was robust and user-friendly, but can only be recommended if users comply with chlorinating the water themselves. Establishing a sustainable supply chain for chlorine products was challenging. Where solid chlorine tablets were locally rarely available, the costs of liquid chlorine options were high (27–162 per cent of the water price).
Highlights
Recontarnination during transport and storage is a common challenge ofwater supply in low-income settings, especially ifwater is collected manually
Biofilms that grow inside these plastic containers and poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions can lead to recontamination Oagals et al, 2003; Mellor et al, 2013; Opryszko et al, 2013)
Five gravity-driven membrane (GDM) kiosks were constructed in low-income areas in eastern Uganda, with ultrafiltration membranes driven by gravity filter surface water pumped up with solar pumps from Lake Victoria (total organic carbon: 8 mg/L, pH: 6, turbidity: usually 10-25 NTU, peaks up to 150 NTU (Peter-Varbanets et al, 2017))
Summary
Recontarnination during transport and storage is a common challenge ofwater supply in low-income settings, especially ifwater is collected manually. We assessed seven law-cost, non-electrically powered chlorination devices in gravity-driven membrane filtration (GDM) kiosks in eastern Uganda: one floater, two in-line dosers, three end-line dosers (tap-attached), and one manual dispenser. The T-chlorinator was the most promising option for GDM kiosks: it achieved correct dosage (CD, 1.5- 2.5 mg/L) with a probability of 90 per cent, was easy to use and maintain, economical, and can be made from locally available materials. Where solid chl01ine tablets were locally rarely available, the costs of liquid chlorine options were high (27-1 62 per cent ofthe water price). Chlorination is a water treatment strategy that provides residual disinfection, reducing recontamination risks during transport and storage. The installation of a chlorinator at the point of collection would circum vent the need to establish user compliance and can increase the proportion of chlorinated water available for consumption. The objective of our study was to assess low-cost, non-electrically powered chlorinators at the point of collection
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