Stauber C.E., Kominek B., Liang K.R., Osman M.K., Sobsey M.D.
Institute of Public Health, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3995, Atlanta, GA 30302, United States; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7431, United States; Cowater International Inc., NORST, P.O. Box 1476, Tamale, Ghana
Stauber, C.E., Institute of Public Health, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3995, Atlanta, GA 30302, United States; Kominek, B., Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7431, United States; Liang, K.R., Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7431, United States; Osman, M.K., Cowater International Inc., NORST, P.O. Box 1476, Tamale, Ghana; Sobsey, M.D., Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7431, United States
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. © 2012 by the authors. licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
drinking water; surface water; coliform bacterium; diarrheal disease; drinking water; filter; filtration; turbidity; water quality; water treatment; article; bacterial count; child; controlled study; cross-sectional study; diarrhea; disease surveillance; Escherichia coli; female; filter; Ghana; health status; household; human; longitudinal study; major clinical study; male; plastic biosand filter; preschool child; prevalence; randomized controlled trial; rural population; turbidity; water analysis; water quality; water treatment; Child, Preschool; Colony Count, Microbial; Diarrhea; Drinking Water; Escherichia coli; Female; Filtration; Geographic Information Systems; Ghana; Humans; Male; Plastics; Rural Population; Water Quality; Ghana; Northern Region [Ghana]; Tamale