Sustainability of a program that provides water filters for rural communities in the Dominican Republic

Since 2003 a program has been in place to introduce personal water filters into rural communities in the Dominican Republic. These low-cost, family-based systems, consisting of two five gallon buckets, a ceramic filter, and a spigot, provide a reliable source of purified water. A major obstacle to creating a successful program is the lack of education about the role bacteria and pure water play in the cause and prevention of gastrointestinal disease. Our model for user education combines household visitation with water sampling and analysis. With the aid of a community health care provider, a team visits the households to inspect the filters and take samples of source water and purified water. The samples are cultured to test for presence of fecal bacteria. The team returns to the homes to explain results by showing bacteria cultures to the owners. Proper procedures for use, maintenance and repair of the filters is also explained and demonstrated. While costly and time consuming, this has been an important step in the sustainability of the project. Approximately 90% of the filters sampled produce no or low risk water according to World Health Organization standards. About 200 filters in 12 communities can be tested and revisited in a one week period by using three teams. Sustainability is also maintained by a filter cost/payment model to enable a permanent employee to oversee the program and to purchase supplies for new filters. Education programs are in place for the community health care providers.