Simple Water Disinfection Technique Could Save Lives in Haiti

Sunshine and a clear bottle are a cheap and easy way to disinfect water. Photo credit: MarS/Flickr

Today, clear plastic water bottles may be lying on their sides on dirt patios, corrugated steel rooftops, or anywhere the sun shines in at least two dozen developing countries. The water inside may be clear, clouded or even brown. But after as few as six hours of sun, that contaminated water will be safe to drink.

Clear plastic and sunshine are a simple solution for water disinfection – and one of the best ways to provide safe drinking water for Haiti.

About four million people use the SODIS method, which stands for “solar disinfection.” It's not water pasteurization, which a handmade solar oven can do, it's even simpler. The sun's UV rays, together with a higher temperature inside the bottle, kill the bacteria that cause diarrhea. That's according to scientists at Eawag, an acronym for the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, the organization that is spreading the news about SODIS in the developing world.

Since Haiti's earthquake, aid workers have turned to Eawag to provide water-treatment training materials for Haitians. Diarrhea is a major threat, especially to children: worldwide, it kills about 4,000 kids every day, Eawag reports.

To reduce the threat in Haiti, the organization translated its flier into French(pdf) and Creole(pdf) and posted it online. “The idea is that the fliers are distributed together with the water bottles,” Monika Tobler of  Eawag’s Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries told Engineering for Change.

Over the years, Eawag has learned some creative ways to spread its message. It recruits standard bearers from among healthcare workers, midwives, schools, aid organizations, and community groups such as women's or farmers' associations. Once trained, they teach others using tools that Eawag provides: fliers, posters, stickers, wall paintings, and even songs and theater. Eawag also promotes solar disinfection through local news media.

Tobler compared sharing the SODIS method to training people in other public health techniques, such as using mosquito nets or condoms. “Behavior change does not happen from one day to the other, so we need to make sure we provide an enabling environment for this change to happen,” she said.

Eawag's fliers are available for download and distribution here:
English
French
Creole

The fliers are translated in other languages as well. For more information, visit the SODIS site. For a detailed description of Eawag's programs and solar disinfection, see this document.

Author: Rob Goodier

No description. Please complete your profile.