Modulo 1.

6: treatments (HWTS)

HWTS of course stands for Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage. Household
water treatment uses some treatment processes which are very similar to those used at
larger scales in community schemes or municipal treatment plants. These can include pre-
treatment steps, filtration, disinfection, Often applied in series to allow multiple barriers
against pathogens passing through the system. 

So in this module we'll briefly introduce these processes. We'll discuss their effectiveness
against different classes of pathogens. The bacteria, the protozoa or the viruses. Where
effectiveness is how well the process works in removing or inactivating or killing the
pathogen under ideal conditions. Efficiency is something different. It's how well the
process works when it is actually applied at the field level in real households. We'll discuss
that more in later modules. Today we'll give some brief advantages and disadvantages of
each of the main processes.

Sometimes pre-treatment is required in household water treatment or treatment at larger

scales. If water has a lot of suspended solids in it or turbidity, those particles can interfere
with other treatment processes.

At the household level, very simple forms of pre-treatment can be done, including rough
filtration, through cloth, or sand filters, or sedimentation. Either passive sedimentation,
letting a bucket of water sit overnight, so solids settle to the bottom, or assisting
sedimentation with a coagulant, like alum.

Filters are usually efficient at removing large pathogens, like guinea worm or protozoa.

They also usually work well against bacteria, depending on the design. Some filters are
even able to remove viruses. But recall that viruses are very small and they can pass
through the pores of some filters.
 
Generally speaking, people tend to like filters. They're often easy to operate and require
little technical capacity at the household level.

Filters normally don't give any strange taste to water, and ceramic filters can even cool the
water through evaporation.

If raw water is turbid from high iron or other particles, this is generally removed, and the
treated water looks much cleaner, which people appreciate.

Disadvantages of filters include the need for supply chains, including to replace broken
components and the possibility of recontamination after filtration. Especially if treated
water is transferred to another container.
 
The most widely practiced household water treatment process is boiling.
 
Boiling is highly effective against all classes of pathogens and people all around the world
understand that boiling makes water safer to drink. And they tend to trust the treatment.
done, including rough filtration, through cloth, or sand filters, or sedimentation.
 
However, boiling can cause health risks, especially where biomass fuel is used, and more
fire means more indoor air pollution.

More fire also needs more fuel, which costs more money.
 
Boiled water can also have a flat taste, and sometimes chalky precipitates, formed during
boiling, which doesn't look nice.

And finally, boiled water is very vulnerable to re-contamination. Treated water has to be
cooled before drinking, and if this is done in an open container, there are good chances for
re-contamination.

Ultraviolet radiation is another form of energy used in disinfection.

Ultraviolet lamps are highly effective where there's electricity. But even without electricity,
ultraviolet radiation from the sun can be used.

The solar disinfection system, or SODIS, involves filing clear plastic bottles with water and
placing them in the direct sunlight for several hours.

Different pathogens have very different abilities to tolerate ultraviolet radiation. Bacteria
such as E. coli are relatively quickly killed, but Crytoptosporidium is somewhat more
tolerant and some viruses can withstand high ultraviolet doses.

SODIS is technically easy to implement. It doesn't require any complicated supplies or

chemicals and it's very inexpensive.

Other advantages are, that SODIS doesn't change the taste of the water, and that water is
generally treated in the same container which is later used for storage and even drinking. So
the risk or recontamination is low.
 
However, SODIS treatment is time consuming. Most commonly, water is cooled overnight
before drinking, and it can only treat relatively small volumes of water.
 
And finally, if the raw water is highly turbid, suspended particles can shield pathogens and
reduce the effectiveness of treatment.
 
The most commonly used disinfectant in household water treatment, just like in large scale
treatment plants, is chlorine.
Chlorine can be applied in liquid or tablet form, and is more effective with longer contact
times. Usually chlorine should be given at least 30 minutes to disinfect water.
 
Chlorine is very effective against bacteria, but higher doses are required to kill some
viruses. And some protozoan cysts are highly resistant to chlorine. Cryptosporidium cysts
can even survive for short periods in full strength, undiluted bleach.
 
One advantage of chlorine disinfection, which is missing for heat and radiation disinfection,
is that residual chlorine in the water can protect against re-contamination. Chlorination is
also easy to apply at the household level and is very inexpensive.
 
Large volumes of water can be treated within relatively short periods of time.
 
Like ultraviolet radiation this treatment is less effective on turbid water.
 
Consistent chlorination requires supply chains and ongoing commitment from users. And
finally chlorine does have a distinctive taste and an odor which can be unpleasant if people
aren't used to it.
 
Now that's a brief introduction to the main processes involved in household water
treatment. We'll go into them in more detail in coming modules.
 
You have seen though that different processes have different levels effectiveness against
different classes of pathogens. So that means that different household water treatment
processes will be better suited for different applications, depending on the local conditions.