Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage
About
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For households that do not have a connection to a drinking water source that is safe for consumption, it is necessary to treat their water at the household or community level. We developed and validated an innovative design for UV disinfection called La Mesita Azul, which is now integrated into safe water and community health programs by the non-profit Fundación Cántaro Azul, based in Chiapas, Mexico. In addition, we have investigated other innovative treatment approaches such as modified sand filters (which didn’t turn out to be promising) and enhanced solar disinfection (which works from a technical perspective, but is difficult for households to use consistently). Our research has also demonstrated the importance of storing water safely after it is treated to prevent recontamination.
Selected Publications
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Reygadas, F., J.S. Gruber, L.Dreizler, K.L. Nelson, and I. Ray. “Measuring User Compliance and Cost Effectiveness of Safe Drinking Water Programs: A Cluster-Randomized Study of Household Ultraviolet Disinfection in Rural Mexico.” (2018) The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 98(3): 824–34. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.17-0440.
Reygadas, Fermin, Joshua S. Gruber, Isha Ray, and Kara L. Nelson. (2015). “Field Efficacy Evaluation and Post-Treatment Contamination Risk Assessment of an Ultraviolet Disinfection and Safe Storage System.” Water Research. 85:74–84. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135415301640
Gruber, J.S., Reygadas, F., Arnold, B.F., Ray, I., Nelson, K., and J. Colford (2013). “A stepped wedge, cluster-randomized trial of a household UV-disinfection and safe storage drinking water intervention in rural Baja California Sur, Mexico.” American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 89(2):238-245.
Enger, K.S., Nelson, K.L., Rose, J.B., and J.S. Eisenberg (2013). “The joint effects of efficacy and compliance: A study of household water treatment effectiveness.” Water Research. 47(3):1181-1190.
A.A. Torkelson, A.K. da Silva, D.C. Love, J.Y. Kim, J.P. Alper, B. Coox, J. Dahm, P. Kozodoy, R. Maboudian, & K.L. Nelson (2012) “Investigation of quaternary ammonium silane-coated sand filter for the removal of bacteria and viruses from drinking water,” Journal of Applied Microbiology. 113(5):1196-1207.
Enger, K., Nelson, K., Clasen, T., Rose, J., and J.N.S. Eisenberg. (2012). “Linking quantitative microbial risk assessment and epidemiological data: Informing safe drinking water trials in developing countries.” Environmental Science and Technology. 46 (9): 5160–5167.
Fisher, M.B., Iriarte, M., and K.L. Nelson (2011). “Solar water disinfection (SODIS) of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp., and MS2 coliphage: Effects of additives and alternative container materials.” Water Research, 46(6):1745-1754. doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2011.12.048.
Levy, K., Nelson, K. L., Hubbard, A., and Eisenberg, J. N. S. (2008). “Following the water: A controlled study of drinking water storage in northern coastal Ecuador.” Environmental Health Perspectives, 116(11):1533-1540.
Brownell, S.A., A.R. Chakrabarti, F.M. Kaser, L.G. Connelly, R.L. Peletz, F. Reygadas, M.J. Lang, D. Kammen, and K.L. Nelson (2008). “Assessment of a low-cost, point-of-use, ultraviolet water disinfection technology.” Journal of Water and Health, 6(1):53-65.
Fisher, M.B., C. Keenan, K.L. Nelson, and B.M Voelker (2008) “Speeding up solar disinfection (SODIS): Effects of hydrogen peroxide, temperature, pH, and copper plus ascorbate on the photoinactivation of E. coli” Journal of Water and Health, 6(1):35-51.