Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage in Emergencies

DISCLAIMER Mention of specific products in no way constitutes an endorsement of that product by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Water Quality When is water clean? When is it dirty?

Why Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage?  Something people can do themselves  Quick  Effective  Dispersed  Buys you time to carry out long term programs  Sustainable (?)

Methods for Water Treatment  Straining  Disinfection  Boiling  Solar  Chemical  Sedimentation  Three pot  Chemical  Filtration

NO DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT TRAINING

Straining Straining alone is unlikely to make water from a contaminated source completely safe to drink. But it makes household water treatment more efficient and effective.

Boiling  Boiling will kill all organisms that cause disease  Boiling water is something people can do themselves NOTE  It takes 1 kilogram of firewood to boil 1 litre of water for one minute.  Boiling will not make water less cloudy.  Boiling has no residual effect. Boiled water should be stored safely and used within a few days.

How Long Do I Boil? For boiling to work, water must be brought to a rolling boil. Low elevation one minute rolling boil High elevation three minutes rolling boil

Solar Disinfection  Solar disinfection will kill most organisms that cause disease if exposed to the sun long enough.  Solar disinfection is something people can do themselves with widely available materials.  Solar disinfection has no residual effect. Water treated by this method should be stored safely and used within a few days.  Solar disinfection takes more time than other methods and requires sunny weather. (Rainy season?)

Clean plastic Fill bottles Aerate the waterFill bottle or glass bottles partly to ¾ by shakingcompletely Expose bottles Put bottles Expose the bottlesDrink the water to sunlight on roofs for 6 hours from the bottles

Chemical Disinfection  These products are easy and safe to use.  There is a residual effect of disinfection, which gives some protection against contamination after treatment.  These products must be brought from outside the community; it is not something they can do with local resources.  Chlorine disinfection will not get rid of all organisms that cause disease.

Chemical Disinfection  Talk to people about the product.  Is it easy to use?  How is the taste?  Leaving a container open and exposing it to heat (direct sunlight for example) will reduce the ability of the chemical to protect against contamination.  Encourage people to keep water covered and out of direct sunlight whenever possible.

How many tablets? One tabletTwo tablets CHECK THE RESIDUAL AFTER 24 HOURS!!! Clear (0-10 NTU)Cloudy ( NTU)

Double Dosing of Chlorine First strain the water through a cloth  Chemical disinfection, especially a double dose, can leave a taste that people do not like.  Chemical taste can be reduced by using the correct amount of chemical and by shaking the water in a bottle to increase the air content.

Any experience with disinfection products?

Chemical Disinfection

Sedimentation

Three Pot Method Each day when new water is brought to the house:  ADrink water from pot 3.  BSlowly pour water stored in pot 2 into pot 3.  CWash out pot 2.  DSlowly pour water stored in pot 1 into pot 2.  EWash out pot 1.  FPour water collected from the source (bucket 4) into pot 1. Strain through a cloth if possible. Allow the water to settle for a day and then repeat the process.

Chemical Sedimentation

Source water Floc formation after chemical addition Floc formation after complete stirring Decanting the water through a clean cotton filter Clean water ready for storage and use

Chemical Sedimentation  These products can make muddy water safe to drink.  There is a residual effect of disinfection, which gives protection against contamination after treatment.  These products are more complicated to use and require more training and follow up.  These products are many times more expensive per litre of water treated than chemical disinfection products and should only be used when water is muddy or no other product is available.  People will need more than one container to properly use these chemicals.

Candle Filters

Biosand Filter

Safe Storage In emergencies, people will use containers they already own or containers that they are provided with during the intervention. Or both. Work with what you have. Narrow necked containers prevent contamination but are difficult to clean. Wide necked containers are easily contaminated but easily cleaned. But there’s a problem All efforts to make water clean are pointless if the water is improperly stored or handled.

NO DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT TRAINING

Training  Make a training plan before the distribution.  Work with people to find the right dose for their water and their container.

Training Tips  Clear buckets for Watermaker and PUR  Issues of trust can arise if people are unfamiliar with the products, especially chemicals.  Try out the product yourself in full view of the population!!  Demonstrate the use of the products at the beginning so that you can drink it in front of the audience at the end

Follow Up Training One lesson on how to use these methods is not enough. Follow up training and monitoring should be carried out after the initial training. You and your field team are looking for:  People’s satisfaction regarding the product selected  Correct use of the products  People’s hygiene practices at household level in relation to water handling and storage.

Wrapping up…  Consider HWTS in emergencies involving dispersed populations with issues of quality rather than quantity of water  Choose your product well  Choose your dosage well  Don’t forget about safe storage  NEVER, EVER distribute chemicals or products without training people in their use