Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2012 Oct 24;9(11):3806-23.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph9113806.

Evaluation of the impact of the plastic BioSand filter on health and drinking water quality in rural Tamale, Ghana

Christine E Stauber  1 , Byron Kominek, Kaida R Liang, Mumuni K Osman, Mark D Sobsey
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Evaluation of the impact of the plastic BioSand filter on health and drinking water quality in rural Tamale, Ghana

Christine E Stauber et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Erratum in

  • Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Sep;11(9):9154-5

Abstract

A randomized controlled trial of the plastic BioSand filter (BSF) was performed in rural communities in Tamale (Ghana) to assess reductions in diarrheal disease and improvements in household drinking water quality. Few studies of household water filters have been performed in this region, where high drinking water turbidity can be a challenge for other household water treatment technologies. During the study, the longitudinal prevalence ratio for diarrhea comparing households that received the plastic BSF to households that did not receive it was 0.41 (95% confidence interval: 0.18, 0.92), suggesting an overall diarrheal disease reduction of 59% [corrected]. The plastic BSF achieved a geometric mean reduction of 97% and 67% for E. coli and turbidity, respectively. These results suggest the plastic BSF significantly improved drinking water quality and reduced diarrheal disease during the short trial in rural Tamale, Ghana. The results are similar to other trials of household drinking water treatment technologies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Typical set-up of the plastic BSF in a household in rural Tamale, Ghana (2008).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Map a (1:500,000) indicating the location for the Randomized Controlled Trial of the Plastic Biosand Filter in Tamale, Ghana (2008).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of categorical E. coli concentrations in different water samples from plastic BSF households during intervention period of the RCT of the plastic BSF in rural Tamale, Ghana (2008).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2012 Update. WHO, UNICEF; Geneva, Switzerland: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme.
    1. Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (Ghana DHS), 2008. [(accessed on 23 September 2011)]. Available online: http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR221/FR221.pdf.
    1. Fewtrell L., Kaufmann R.B., Kay D., Enanoria W., Haller L., Colford J.M., Jr. Water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhoea in less developed countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2005;5:42–52. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(04)01253-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Clasen T., Schmidt W.P., Rabie T., Roberts I., Cairncross S. Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2007;334:782–785. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Manz Water Info database. [(accessed on 6 August 2012)]. Available online: www.manzwaterinfo.ca.

Publication types