Performance evaluation of appropriate in-home drinking water treatment options for developing countries

摘要

Simple water treatment technologies composed of locally-available materials can be of benefit to people in rural areas of developing countries. Example technologies include filtration through a sari cloth, inactivation using sunlight, and disinfection using citrus acids. These technologies were studied using a matrix of three indicator/surrogate organisms: a bacteria (E. coli), a virus (MS2 coliphage), and a surrogate for protozoan cysts and oocysts (aerobic bacterial spores). While results are still forthcoming, research has shown that both acidification using lime and lemon juice and solar disinfection provided a significant measure of protection against pathogen surrogates. Future research will include additional solar disinfection studies and the integration of aerobic bacterial spores into the research matrix.