An Assessment of Continued Use and Health Impact of the Concrete Biosand Filter in Bonao, Dominican Republic
Open accessAbstract
The biosand filter (BSF) is a promising point of use (POU) technology for water treatment; however there has been little follow-up of initial implementation to assess sustainability. The purpose of this study was to examine continued use, performance, and sustainability of previously implemented concrete BSFs in Bonao, Dominican Republic. Of 328 households visited and interviewed, 90% of BSFs were still in use after approximately 1 year since installation. Water-quality improvement, measured by fecal indicator bacteria reduction, was found to be 84–88%, which is lower than reductions in controlled laboratory studies but similar to other field assessments. In a short prospective cohort study comparing BSF to non-BSF households, odds of reported diarrheal disease in BSF households were 0.39 times the odds of reported diarrheal disease in non-BSF households. These results document high levels of sustained and effective concrete BSF use and associated improvements in water quality and health.
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Only four studies of drinking water reported results by sex; thus, the estimates are not disaggregated by sex.
“Only four studies of drinking water (three POU filter studies36, 37, 38 and one POU chlorine study39) reported results by sex; thus, our estimates are not disaggregated by sex (appendix 1 pp 5–7).”
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- Authors
- Aiken, B. A., Stauber, C. E., Ortiz, G. M., & Sobsey, M. D.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Georgia State University (US)
- Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Aiken, Benjamin A.
- Venue
- The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Published
- 2011-08-01
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 309-317
- ISSN
- 0002-9637 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-1645
- PMC
- PMC3144831
- OpenAlex
- W1973903571
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 3.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
- Digital Archive @ GSU (submittedVersion)
- UNC Libraries
- Funders
- United States Agency for International Development
- Georgia State University
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Gillings School of Public Health
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Fecal contamination and water quality
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
- Keywords
- household water treatment, household water filtration, fecal indicator bacteria, diarrheal disease, water quality, technological sustainability, technology adoption
- MeSH terms
- Child, Child, Preschool, Diarrhea, Dominican Republic, Female, Filtration, Humans, Male, Silicon Dioxide, Water Microbiology, Water Supply, Cohort Studies, Water Purification
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