title: Household water disinfection in hurricane-affected communities of Louisiana: implications for disaster preparedness for the general public.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Thousands of Louisiana residents were asked to boil water because of widespread disruptions in electricity and natural gas services after Hurricane Rita. We sought to assess awareness of boil water orders and familiarity with household water disinfection techniques other than boiling.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional survey in randomly selected mobile home communities in Louisiana.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We interviewed 196 respondents from 8 communities, which had boil water orders instituted. Of 97 who were home while communities were still under orders to boil water, 30 (31%) were aware of the orders and, of those, 24 (80%) said the orders were active while they were living at home; of the 24, 10 (42%) reported boiling water. Overall, 163 (83%) respondents were aware of a method of water disinfection at the household level: boiling (78%), chlorination (27%), and filtration (25%); 87% had a container of chlorine bleach at home.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Few hurricane-affected respondents were aware of boil water orders and of alternate water disinfection techniques. Most had access to chlorine and could have practiced household chlorination if disruption in natural gas and electricity made boiling impossible.
authors.affiliation: Diarrheal Diseases Epidemiology Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga, USA. pkram@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: Pavani K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Ram
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blanton
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klinghoffer
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Platek
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Straif-Bourgeois
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bonner
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Mintz
mesh_terms: D002713:Chlorine; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D002713:Chlorine