Chlorination and safe storage of household drinking water in developing countries to reduce waterborne disease.

This study evaluated point-of-use chlorination and storage in special plastic containers of gathered household water for improving microbial quality and reducing diarrhoeal illness of consumers living under conditions of poor sanitation and hygiene. There were intervention groups who had household water chlorination and storage in a special container, and control households with no interventions. The use of interventions significantly improved the microbiological quality of the non-piped household drinking water. Episodes of household diarrhoeal illness were lower in the intervention families compared to control families, indicating that community diarrhoea was preventable by using the interventions. Widespread use of simple treatment and storage for non-piped domestic water could dramatically reduce the global burden of waterborne diarrhoeal disease. Water Sci Technol 2003;47(3):221-8.