Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Clasen, Thomas
• McLaughlin, Catherine
• Nayaar, Neeru
• Boisson, Sophie
• Gupta, Romesh
• Desai, Dolly
• Shah, Nimish

Titel

Microbiological effectiveness and cost of disinfecting water by boiling in semi-urban India

Ist Teil von

• The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 2008-09, Vol.79 (3), p.407

Ort / Verlag

United States

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Despite shortcomings, boiling is the most common means of treating water at home and the benchmark against which emerging point-of-use water treatment approaches are measured. In a 5-month study, we assessed the microbiological effectiveness and cost of the practice among 218 self-reported boilers relying on unprotected water supplies. Boiling was associated with a 99% reduction in geometric mean fecal coliforms (FCs; P < 0.001). Despite high levels of fecal contamination in source water, 59.6% of stored drinking water samples from self-reported boilers met the World Health Organization standard for safe drinking water (0 FC/100 mL), and 5.7% were between 1 and 10 FC/100 mL. Nevertheless, 40.4% of stored drinking water samples were positive for FCs, with 25.1% exceeding 100 FC/100 mL. The estimated monthly fuel cost for boiling was INR 43.8 (US$0.88) for households using liquid petroleum gas and INR 34.7 (US$0.69) for households using wood.