This newsletter is released periodically by the Water Institute at UNC to the members and subscribers to the International Network on Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage.
Announcements and Network Secretariat News
- Save the Date! The Network will hold its Annual Meeting on October 13, 2014 at the Water and Health Conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. We will shortly release further details.
Network Member News
- Antenna Technologies Foundation has published an updated version of its operating instructions for the WATA technology which enables local production of sodium hypochlorite for water treatment and disinfection purposes.
- Researchers at CAWST wish to share two new publications on the bio-sand filter. The first is a new book which includes two chapters on the adoption, use, performance and recent advances in the method. The second publication is an analysis of various program strategies and how they may influence outcomes such as adoption and sustained use.
- The P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program announced this year that it reached its 7 billionth liter milestone, through the distribution of 700 million water-purification packets to implementation efforts all over the world, including school WaSH, nutrition programs, emergency response and more. Read the blog post
- Safe Water International shares with us an article on the treatment of turbid surface water using extra from the Moringa oleifera tree. Results showed 1 to 4 log bacterial reduction.
- The Water Institute at UNC shares a presentation on the importance of monitoring and evaluation to achieve correct, consistent and continued use of HWTS. The presentation was delivered at the the WASH Sustainability Forum in Amsterdam held 30 June and 1 July, 2014.
Request for Assistance
- Chris Malvicini is a student intern working with a group of coffee growers in Honduras. He is seeking advice about the availability and costs of water filters (or other options) for household use. Contact Chris at chrismalv@gmail.com.
- InStove is seeking peer-reviewed publications and informal research to assist in the development of a rapid sand sediment filter which will compliment a community-scale drinking water pasteurization system (details on their website). If you can help, please contact Nick Moses at nick@instove.org.
Recent Events
- Rainwater Harvesting Webinar Series: The Rural Water Supply Network and RAIN Foundation have collaborated to produce webinars on rainwater harvesting, on topics such as private sector participation, project reporting, and rainwater for food security. Learn more
- Webinar on WASH, Nutrition and Early Childhood Development: USAID, Care, the University of Maryland, and WASHplus hosted a webinar on June 5, 2014 on the latest evidence for water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition interventions in early childhood development. Access the recording and materials here.
- The Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) held its Sixth World Water Summit on May 30, 2014 at the Rotary International Convention in Sydney, Australia. WASRAG provides support to Rotary projects, many of which often include HWTS. The program, speaker recordings, and presentations are available on the website.
- The 5th International Conference on Arsenic in the Environment was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from May 11-16, 2014 to bring together the latest research on this topic including arsenic in the groundwater. A book of over 300 short abstracts and a report of the proceedings have been made available on the conference website.
- Webinar on Fluoride in Groundwater: In excessive quantities, fluoride in groundwater is toxic to human health. An estimated 200 million people globally are at risk, including many in parts of Ethiopia. On May 2, 2014, The Water Channel hosted a webinar on the topic with a focus on the Ethiopian context. The recording can be watched online.
- The WASH 2014 for everyone, everywhere conference was held March 24-28, 2014 in Brisbane, Australia. Conference themes were 1) equitable access, universal services; 2) Achieving health outcomes with WASH; and 3) Sustaining and improving services. Download the conference report
Publications
- The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology has just added over 900 items to its WASH Education & Training Resources website including WaSH and HWTS training Manuals containing nearly 1,000 lessons plans, 144 presentations, workshop agendas and outlines for training practitioners, field staff and community members. Resources available in English, French and Spanish.
- The WASHplus blog regularly features recent research and news on household drinking water quality and related topics. Below are some recently shared publications relating to HWTS:
- Designing Programme Implementation Strategies to Increase the Adoption and Use of Biosand Water Filters in Rural India
- Mobile phones, rent-to-own payments & water filters: Evidence from Kenya
- USAID Ethiopia Water Activities
- Water Filter Provision and Home-Based Filter Reinforcement Reduce Diarrhea in Kenyan HIV-Infected Adults and Their Household Members
- A Solar Disinfection Water Treatment System for Remote Communities
- Biological Sand Filters: Low-Cost Bioremediation Technique for Production of Clean Drinking Water
- Scaling up integrated prevention campaigns for global health: costs and cost-effectiveness in 70 countries
- Bioremediation of Turbid Surface Water Using Seed Extract from the Moringa oleifera Lam. (Drumstick) Tree
- What does sustainability mean for handwashing and hygiene?
- Removal of As(III) and As(V) in surface modified ceramic filters
- Marketing Household Water Treatment: Willingness to Pay Results from an Experiment in Rural Kenya
- Ceramic water filters impregnated with silver nanoparticles as a point-of-use water-treatment intervention for HIV-positive individuals
- Safety of packaged water distribution limited by household recontamination in rural Cambodia
Education, Funding or Work Opportunities
- The Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology regularly provides training workshops worldwide for individuals and organizations on HWTS and other related topics. There are events planned in coming weeks in Afghanistan, Honduras, India, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. View the calendar
- The Water Institute at UNC is recruiting a Research Assistant Professor or Research Associate Professor to serve as its Director for Research. Learn more
For more WASH sector job listings, please refer to the WASH Vacancies Blog, Global Water Jobs, or the Relief Web Jobs site.
Event Calendar for 2014
- World Water Week: 31 August-5 September, 2014 in Stockholm, Sweden
- 37th WEDC International Conference: 15-19 September, 2014 in Hanoi, Vietnam
- 2014 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition: 21-26 September, 2014 in Lisbon, Portugal
- 2014 Water and Health Conference: 13-17 October, 2014 in Chapel Hill, USA
- American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 63rd Annual Meeting: 2-6 November in New Orleans, Louisiana
For more WASH and water-related event listings, please refer to the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Water Policy & Practice Calendar.
About this newsletter: This newsletter is produced every six to eight weeks by the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina in collaboration with WHO and UNICEF as co-hosts of the International Network on Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage. Past issues are available at: http://hwts.web.unc.edu/newsletter/. For further info or to subscribe/unsubscribe, contact Ryan Rowe at: hwtsnetwork@unc.edu or ryanrowe@unc.edu.
Contributions: Contributions to the newsletter are welcome. Please refer to the guidelines on the Water Institute website.
Disclaimer: This publication does not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the World Health Organization or the United Nations Children’s Fund. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization or the United Nations Children’s Fund.
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