Microbiological effectiveness and cost of disinfecting water by boiling in semi-urban India.
Despite shortcomings, boiling is the most common means of treating water at home and the benchmark against which emerging point-of-use water treatment approaches are measured. In a 5-month study, we assessed the microbiological effectiveness and cost of the practice among 218 self-reported boilers relying on unprotected water supplies. Boiling was associated with a 99% reduction in geometric mean fecal coliforms (FCs; P < 0.001). Despite high levels of fecal contamination in source water, 59.6% of stored drinking water samples from self-reported boilers met the World Health Organization standard for safe drinking water (0 FC/100 mL), and 5.7% were between 1 and 10 FC/100 mL. Nevertheless, 40.4% of stored drinking water samples were positive for FCs, with 25.1% exceeding 100 FC/100 mL. The estimated monthly fuel cost for boiling was INR 43.8 (US$0.88) for households using liquid petroleum gas and INR 34.7 (US$0.69) for households using wood.
Clasen
Thomas
T
Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. thomas.clasen@lshtm.ac.uk
McLaughlin
Catherine
C
Nayaar
Neeru
N
Boisson
Sophie
S
Gupta
Romesh
R
Desai
Dolly
D
Shah
Nimish
N
D004203:Disinfection / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D010578:Petroleum / Q000191:economics; D014505:Urban Population; D014871:Water Microbiology / Q000592:standards*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*
D010578:Petroleum