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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Rochelle Christine Rainey, MS and Anna K. Harding, PhD. Department of Public Health, Oregon State University, 264 Waldo Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, 541-737-3827, rochelle.rainey@orst.edu
Diseases related to polluted drinking water, unsanitary food preparation, improper excreta disposal, and unclean household environments constitute a major burden on the health of people in the developing world. Many of Nepal’s health problems, including high infant and child mortality and high incidence of fecal-orally transmitted disease, are related to contaminated water. This study examined the effectiveness of household-level batch (bottle) solar disinfection (SODIS) in eliminating microbial contamination of drinking water in a small village in Kathmandu Valley. Water samples were collected from the household water source, from the household water storage container, and directly from the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles used for solar disinfection. Fecal coliform bacteria were the indicator of contamination and membrane filtration was used to obtain numbers of colony-forming units. The session will also present results of the health impacts in the households using solar disinfection, measuring number of episodes of diarrhea as reported by the primary food-preparer in each household. Observational data on general household sanitation and water use practices was also collected during this study. Recommendations regarding the effectiveness, relevance, and sustainability of solar disinfection in rural Nepal will be presented. The data was collected in Siddhipur, Nepal, a small village 5 kilometers outside the capital city of Kathmandu, from January to July 2002. The study design included a baseline on water quality and health, introduction of solar disinfection technique, one round of water and health data from the dry season, and a second round of data collected during the summer monsoon season.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Water Quality, International Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.