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The key focus on challenging environments should be technological, paying special attention to physical design and construction
01.07.2010
In our Crossfire debate, Sam Godfrey and Libertad Gonzales discuss the proposition: The key focus on challenging environments should be technological, paying special attention to physical design and construction. -
Cross-sectional health indicator study of open defecation-free villages in Madhya Pradesh, India
01.07.2008
India's Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), started in 1999, has the primary aim of 'eradicating the practice of open defecation by 2012'. This paper describes a cross-sectional health indicator study of four villages - two 'open-defecation free' (ODF) villages and two non-ODF villages) in Madhya Pradesh in 2006.The study included: (a) an epidemiological investigation based on a study population of 1,245 individuals; (b) microbiological and parasitological examinations of 10 per cent of stool samples from study population; and (c) water quality and sanitary inspection analysis.Results from the study indicate that both diarrhoeal morbidity and overall worm infestations from stool samples reduced in the ODF villages. Results however indicated high levels of microbiological contamination of the water supplies in ODF villages as well as an increased prevalence of hookworm infestation in 16 per cent of the population. These results reflect that, as revealed by interviews, despite improved latrine coverage, many ODF villages are still practising open field defecation resulting in the transmission of hookworms through the human-soil-human contamination route. The study concluded that, to maximize the health benefit of ODF, a choice of alternative sanitation technology options combined with appropriate hygiene promotion must be undertaken. -
Books
01.07.2007
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Water safety plans for greywater in tribal schools, India
01.01.2007
Where water is in short supply, greywater treatment and reuse may be the answer. Such systems have been introduced in tribal residential schools in Madhya Pradesh, India. Both children and parent teacher associations were involved in drawing up and applying water safety plans for greywater reuse, and cartoons were used to publicize them. -
Rainwater as an additional water supply
01.04.2006
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Is your drinking water safe?
01.04.2005
Does the monitoring of water quality ensure safe water? Or is the real risk poor understanding of the operation of water-supply systems? The new water-safety framework should help utilities and communities identify where contamination is arising, and show how to put problems right. -
Implementing water-safety plans in urban piped-water supplies in Uganda
01.04.2005
When water-safety plans were implemented in Kampala and Jinja, Uganda, they were found to be a cost-effective way of identifying supply problems and a good way of involving operations as well as water-quality staff, thereby reducing response times. -
Resourses Guide
01.04.2005
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Water-safety plans for piped supplies with limited data – a case study from India
01.04.2005
Problems arise implementing WSPs in many towns where data on the piped network is limited. Risk mapping can be a useful tool to overcome this and identify points where risk is particularly high. It uses local engineers' knowledge to assess physical hazards and the vulnerability of the pipework and uses proxies for the susceptibility of the population to disease.