The Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP)From May 12-22, 2006, HIP held an e-conference that discussed two themes: 1) Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage: What can the poor afford? and 2) How do programs promote water treatment and ensure that the government continues to supply improved drinking water sources? This report summarizes the e-conference discussions.
2006 HWTS E-Conference Summary From May 12-22, 2006, HIP held an e-conference that discussed two themes: 1) Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage: What can the poor afford? and 2) How do programs promote water treatment and ensure that the government continues to supply improved drinking water sources? This report summarizes the e-conference discussions.
HIP POU E-conference Synthesis May 06.pdf (189.9 kB)
E-Conference Resources Resources related to household water treatment and storage recommened by conference participants.
All messages from the E-Conference on HWTS 20060525-HIP-E-Conference-HWTS.pdf (335.7 kB)
Background material A collection of background material for the Hygiene Improvement project (HIP) E-dicussion on Safe Storage of Water at Point of Use.
1: Household Water Treatment and Storage: What can the poor afford? 111 messages.
Treatment and safe storage of household drinking water is a practice that can reduce incidence of diarrhea by over 30 percent. Yet many people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water in the home. And many poor people do not even have an extra bucket in which to separate drinking water from water for other uses. Although a range of technologies exist to treat unsafe water—many that are low cost—a majority of people do not have access to one, let alone a choice of options to treat and store their water safely. Thus, some of the key questions of this theme revolve around:
What strategies exist that promote household water treatment and storage?
What value do people see in treating and storing water safely so that they sustain the practice over the long term?
How can we magnify the savings from treating and storing water safely so that the investment seems worth the cost and effort to households?
What schemes exist that encourage small business investment into water treatment and storage?
What different payment methods might make these products more affordable or desirable to customers?
2: How do programs promote HWTS and ensure that the government continues to supply improved drinking water sources? 33 messages.
While donors, governments and implementers work towards the millennium development goal of providing access to improved water supply by 2015*, many households currently depend upon water supplies of inadequate quality and limited access. Even households with adequate access to safe drinking water engage in practices that bring about ‘secondary contamination’ of water.
1. Does promoting household water treatment and safe storage allow the government to shift its responsibility to individuals to finance their own safe water?
2. How can implementers promote water treatment and safe storage without reflecting negatively on existing water sources, which may or may not be safe to drink?
3. Can organizations working to improve access to water also promote HWTS without sending a confusing and conflicting message to their communities?
This e-dialogue will address these key questions, and work to identify successful program strategies for advancing on both government provision of safe water and household treatment and safe storage.
* The Millennium Development Goals define access as 30 minutes or less to go, collect water and return to home.
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