Simple Sari Cloth Filtration of Water Is Sustainable and Continues To Protect Villagers from Cholera in Matlab, Bangladesh
A method for simple filtration of water for domestic use, including drinking, was devised; this method employs cotton sari cloth, a material readily available to village women in Bangladesh. When this method was tested in the laboratory, using 1 to 4 layers of sari cloth to filter pond and river water containing V. cholerae attached to small crustacean zooplanktonic copepods and particulate matter, this simple procedure successfully reduced the number of V. cholerae bacteria by 2 log units.
Whether 1, 2, 3, or 4 layers of sari cloth was used as a filter, the number of V. cholerae bacteria in the water was reduced by ca. 90%. Four layers of sari cloth were considered optimal for water filtration, since it consistently removed >99% of the bacteria, but 2 or 3 layers were approximately equally effective.
Sari filtration is easy to use, does not require extensive training, is socially acceptable, and, most importantly, involves no additional cost to the household. Where conditions of extreme poverty or local disasters prevent access to potable water, notably in areas where cholera is endemic and areas subject to social disruptions, simple filtration can be deployed with a beneficial outcome to public health.
Anwar Huq, Mohammed Yunus, Syed Salahuddin Sohel, Abbas Bhuiya, Michael Emch, Stephen P. Luby, Estelle Russek-Cohen*, G. Balakrish Nair*, R. Bradley Sack, and Rita R. Colwell
http://mbio.asm.org/content/1/1/e00034-10.full
A method for simple filtration of water for domestic use, including drinking, was devised; this method employs cotton sari cloth, a material readily available to village women in Bangladesh. When this method was tested in the laboratory, using 1 to 4 layers of sari cloth to filter pond and river water containing V. cholerae attached to small crustacean zooplanktonic copepods and particulate matter, this simple procedure successfully reduced the number of V. cholerae bacteria by 2 log units.
Whether 1, 2, 3, or 4 layers of sari cloth was used as a filter, the number of V. cholerae bacteria in the water was reduced by ca. 90%. Four layers of sari cloth were considered optimal for water filtration, since it consistently removed >99% of the bacteria, but 2 or 3 layers were approximately equally effective.
Sari filtration is easy to use, does not require extensive training, is socially acceptable, and, most importantly, involves no additional cost to the household. Where conditions of extreme poverty or local disasters prevent access to potable water, notably in areas where cholera is endemic and areas subject to social disruptions, simple filtration can be deployed with a beneficial outcome to public health.
Anwar Huq, Mohammed Yunus, Syed Salahuddin Sohel, Abbas Bhuiya, Michael Emch, Stephen P. Luby, Estelle Russek-Cohen*, G. Balakrish Nair*, R. Bradley Sack, and Rita R. Colwell
http://mbio.asm.org/content/1/1/e00034-10.full