Increasing acceptance of chlorination for household water treatment: Observations from Bangladesh

Sara V. Flanagan, Xiaoguang Meng, Yan Zheng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Point-of-use water treatment, especially chlorination, is an effective intervention to reduce diarrhoea, a leading cause of death for children under five. Yet success in chlorination uptake has been limited. One obstacle is objection to treated water's taste/odour. Protective chlorine residuals that are not offensive to users require accurate dosing - a challenge in practice. Further, taste sensitivity may be different for populations never exposed to chlorinated water. Here, household chlorination trials in Bangladesh similarly revealed dissatisfaction with treated water due to taste and odour, although attempts to quantify chlorine sensitivity disputed the dissatisfaction at lower residuals. A granular activated carbon (GAC) filter fitted to the spigot of a covered tank removed the remaining chlorine residual prior to drinking and increased user satisfaction. Such a filter removes taste as a barrier and allows over-dosing contaminated water to ensure disinfection, with implications for areas with high source water variability and for emergency situations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)125-134
Number of pages10
JournalWaterlines
Volume32
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2013

Keywords

  • Bangladesh
  • Chlorination
  • Disinfection
  • Granular activated carbon
  • Household water treatment
  • Point-of-use
  • Water-borne infectious disease

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