A recent newspaper article In Nepal reports how a household water treatment promotion programme in Kathmandu seems to have had a positive impact on health by reducing water-related disease incidence. Six months after the intervention through a 49-member group of mothers living in an old Newari settlement in Lalitpur, all households were using at least one water treatment method. The mothers promoted filtering, boiling, SODIS (Solar water disinfection), and chlorination,

In an article in Source of September 2009 research was reported that put SODIS under fire: "studies pour cold water on solar disinfection". A critical review reported in Source of March 2009 concluded that the widespread promotion of household water treatment (HWT) is premature given the available evidence. More research is needed before HWT can be recommended to policy makers and implementers, according to Wolf-Peter Schmidt and Sandy Cairncross of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Source: Dev Kumar Sunuwar, Kathmandu Post / NGO Forum, 31 Jan 2010

Tags: gender, south asia, urban wash, water treatment, water-related diseases