Description

With Self-supply water sources it is strongly advised to use some kind of Household Water Treatment.

Advantages compared to not using treatment

• – Hard to predict if water from a Self-supply source is safe to drink.
• – With treatment of a good WHO recommended treatment product water is safe to drink.
• – By treating no need to test the water quality
• – By treating the water Self-supply will be more acceptable, easier to support by Governments and NGOs

Disadvantages compared to not using a treatment

• – Although cheap, treatment cost money
• – Options like PUR, WaterGuard, Wa Ufa require discipline of treating every day. If there is no consistent use, a treatment does not have health effects.

Boiling

This is the simplest and most safe way of treatment but has its disadvantages like cost of fuel and  indoor pollution

Cloth

A low cost option is filtering through a double cloth which can reduce bacteria with 90%.

Information

• Chlorine eliminates Bacteria and viruses but does not kill Cryptosporidium
• Cryptosporidium is a major cause for Child mortality ( SIE 2011)
• Cost; PUR ca 1 US$/ 20 litres. on yearly base this is 10-20 US$ / family
• Cost; Water guard, Wa-ufa; ca 3 US$ for 600 Litres, Yearly 01.5- 3 US/ family
• Producers:  Local stores, pharmacies