Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Open Access Master's Report
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biological Sciences (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Advisor 1
Casey Huckins
Committee Member 1
Mark Rouleau
Committee Member 2
Dave Watkins
Abstract
Hundreds of thousands throughout the Kolda region in southern Senegal rely on potentially contaminated well water as their drinking source. Chemical treatment of the water using a small amount of chlorine bleach has been shown to increase its safety for human consumption; however, the vast majority of people in the region do not disinfect water before they drink it. In this study, 97 individuals (47 water Treaters and 51 Non-Treaters) were surveyed on motivations and barriers towards bleaching or not bleaching their water, and microbiological field testing was undertaken to examine the effectiveness of treatment in the field. The microbial tests showed treated water was significantly less contaminated than untreated water in both coliform and Escherichia coli counts. Due to the efficacy of the method, continuation of the promotion of chemical drinking water treatment is recommended. Ten recommendations for future water treatment interventions in Kolda are provided in the discussion of this report. These recommendations were derived from survey results as well as from the available literature on the topic.
Recommended Citation
Michel, Barbara L., "Barriers to and Efficacy of Point-of-Use Chemical Drinking Water Treatment in Kolda, Senegal, West Africa", Open Access Master's Report, Michigan Technological University, 2016.