Health Impact of Treating and Safely Storing Shallow Tubewell Drinking Water
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2012-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
When shallow tubewells replaced highly contaminated surface water as the primary source of
drinking water in Bangladesh in the late 20th century, contemporary studies demonstrated no
reduction in diarrheal disease with this improvement in water source. This lack of
improvement in transitioning to tubewells is consistent with the lack of significant health
gains observed in intervention studies focusing on water quality improvements at the source.
In contrast, high quality intervention studies that improve water quality at the point of use
through treatment of water in households show a 39% reduction in diarrhea.
The primary objective of this study is within a typical setting in rural Bangladesh where
households use shallow tubewell water for drinking. The investigators will randomly assign
1800 households who have a child between the ages of six months and two years to one of three
groups. Group 1 will receive a safe water storage vessel with a lid and a narrow mouth/tap
and Aquatabs, an effervescent water purification tablet that utilizes sodium
dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) as the chlorine donor. Group 2 will only receive a safe water
storage vessel with a lid and a narrow mouth/tap. Group 3 will receive no water intervention
and continue their standard habits and practices. Every month a field research assistant will
visit each participating household and collect information on the prevalence of diarrhea
among children between the ages of six months and two years, as well as children between the
ages of two and five years if present in the household. Diarrhea prevalence in the 48 hours
and 7 days preceding the visit will be recorded. The investigators will compare the
longitudinal prevalence of diarrhea between the following groups: (1) households that receive
chlorine and storage container versus households that only receive storage container to
assess the effect of chlorination, (2) households that only receive storage container versus
households that receive no intervention to assess the effect of safe storage, and (3)
households that receive chlorine and storage container versus households that receive no
intervention to assess the combined effect of chlorination and safe storage.
Hypothesis:
Drinking water from shallow tubewells that are intermittently contaminated with enteric
pathogens contributes importantly to diarrhea among children in rural Bangladesh.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh