Monitoring and evaluation of household water treatment and safe storage technologies : the sustained use of the KOSIM ceramic water filter in northern region Ghana

Today, approximately 884 million people lack access to an improved drinking water (WHO and UNICEF, 2008). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), contaminated water and poor sanitation cause 30,000 deaths worldwide each day (WHO and UNICEF, 2008). Household drinking water and safe storage (HWTS), is a new health intervention that enables people to treat water in their own homes. Today, hundreds of non-profit organizations, for-profit business, social enterprises, academic institutions, faith-based organizations and governments are working around the world to promote HWTS technologies, especially to those people most in need. This thesis uses Pure Home Water (PHW), a small non-profit in Northern Region Ghana, as a case study to evaluate the use of a widespread HWTS technology, the ceramic pot filter. During the months of January, June and July 2008, I surveyed 309 of Pure Home Water's rural customers who had purchased a KOSIM filter between 2005 and 2008 to determine both the sustained use of the KOSIM ceramic pot filter and the factors that contribute to sustained use or disuse. I also conducted water quality analysis using the Colilert® and the 3MTM PetrifilmTM tests to evaluate the performance of the KOSIM filter in the field. Forty-six percent of PHW's rural customers were still using the KOSIM ceramic pot filter at the time of the interview. The survey results indicated that household income, reported water source, and the price paid for the filter are each associated with sustained use or disuse of the KOSIM filter.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Clopeck, Katherine L. (Katherine Lorraine)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Susan Murcott.

• Engineering Systems Division.
• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51653

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/51653