Project Lead(s): Kijakazi Mashoto
Issue
Diarrhea remains a leading cause of morbidity among children under five years of age around the world.
Inadequate water and sanitation lead to high rates of waterborne illnesses. Point-of-use water quality interventions could reduce diarrhea episodes by roughly half, with some studies resulting in disease reduction by 70% or more.
Solution
Implemented in Tanzania, the project tested the effectiveness of a locally manufactured water disinfectant, called Takasamaji (chlor-floc), and associated safe drinking water storage containers.
Takasamaji and safe drinking water storage containers were distributed in five out of ten Mkuranga villages in Tanzania.
A total of 78 local community members were recruited to distribute Takasamaji and to collect information on diarrhea on a weekly basis for a period of 17 weeks. Experts from the Ministry of Water in Tanzania assessed the quality of water consumed by the villagers before and during the implementation of the project.
Over a six-month period, 243 households accessed and tested this simple technology, representing 1,094 people (of which 406 were children below the age of five).
Outcome
Use of Takasamaji and the safe drinking water storage containers for simple household water treatment reduced episodes of diarrhea among children under the age of five years by 54%.
Takasamaji reduced bacterial contamination by 80% and turbidity levels by 70%.
In a case-control study between two communities, the prevalence of diarrhea was lower in children from households accessing the water treatment technology (7.3%) versus those without accessing to this technology (14.8%).
There are plans to modify/improve the formula of Takasamaji and then scale up the project.