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

Christine Stauber,Mumuni Osman,Byron Kominek,Mark Sobsey,Kaida Liang

doi:10.3390/ijerph9113806

Abstract

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.

Highlights

Many communities, especially in rural sub-Saharan Africa, still face significant challenges to provide access to improved drinking water sources and are struggling to meet the MillenniumDevelopment Goals for water and sanitation [1]
Three villages were later randomized into the BioSand filter (BSF) intervention group and a total of 117 plastic BSFs were installed in separate households
The results from our study suggest reductions in diarrheal disease that are consistent with designed trials on household water filters in other countries in this region [8,17]

Summary

Introduction

Especially in rural sub-Saharan Africa, still face significant challenges to provide access to improved drinking water sources and are struggling to meet the MillenniumDevelopment Goals for water and sanitation [1]. Especially in rural sub-Saharan Africa, still face significant challenges to provide access to improved drinking water sources and are struggling to meet the Millennium. The lack of access to improved water and sanitation contribute significantly to diarrheal disease in the population. The Ghana Demographic and Health Survey [2] suggests that diarrheal disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children less than five years of age, with 1 in 5 having reported diarrheal disease in the two weeks preceding the survey. In the Northern region of Ghana, the two-week prevalence of diarrheal disease was almost 33% [2]. An immediate solution to address the lack of access to safe water is household water treatment (HWT), which allows households to treat drinking water at the point of consumption to improve its quality. Studies of HWT have shown that it can reduce the risk of diarrheal disease by

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion