Targeting Appropriate Interventions to Minimize Deterioration of Drinking-water Quality in Developing Countries

In developing countries, it has been observed that drinking water frequently becomes recontaminated following its collection and during storage in the home. This paper proposes a semi-quantified ‘disease risk index’ (DRI) designed to identify communities or households that are ‘most at risk’ from consuming recontaminated drinking water. A brief review of appropriate physical and educational intervention measures is presented, and their effective use is discussed. It is concluded that incorporating a simple appraisal tool, such as the proposed DRI, into a community water-supply programme would be useful in shaping the overall strategy requiring only a minimum of organisational learning.

TREVETT, A.F. CARTER, R.C. (2008): Targeting Appropriate Interventions to Minimize Deterioration of Drinking-water Quality in Developing Countries. Dhaka, Bangladesh: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research URL [Accessed: 05.04.2012]