title: Biological sand filters: low-cost bioremediation technique for production of clean drinking water.
abstract: Approximately 1.1 billion people in rural and peri-urban communities of developing countries do not have access to safe drinking water. The mortality from diarrheal-related diseases amounts to approximately 2.2 million people each year from the consumption of unsafe water. Most of them are children under 5 years of age-250 deaths an hour from microbiologically contaminated water. There is conclusive evidence that one low-cost household bioremediation intervention, biological sand filters, are capable of dramatically improving the microbiological quality of drinking water. This unit will describe this relatively new and proven bioremediation technology's ability to empower at-risk populations to use naturally occurring biology and readily available materials as a sustainable way to achieve the health benefits of safe drinking water.
authors: Clearinghouse: Low-cost Water Treatment Technologies for Developing Countries, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Lea
mesh_terms: D004203:Disinfection; D005374:Filtration / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification / Q000191:economics* / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide