Citation

Brown J, Sobsey MD. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 2012; 87(3): 394-398.

Affiliation

Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Publisher American Society of Tropical Medicine)

DOI

10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0715

PMID

22826487

Abstract

This paper focuses on the consistency of use and microbiological effectiveness of boiling as it is practiced in rural Cambodia. We followed 60 randomly selected households in Kandal Province over 6 months to collect longitudinal data on water boiling practices and effectiveness in reducing Escherichia coli in household drinking water. Despite > 90% of households reporting that they used boiling as a means of drinking water treatment, an average of only 31% of households had boiled water on hand at follow-up visits, suggesting that actual use may be lower than self-reported use. We collected 369 matched untreated and boiled water samples. Mean reduction of E. coli was 98.5%; 162 samples (44%) of boiled samples were free of E. coli (< 1 colony-forming unit [cfu]/100 mL), and 270 samples (73%) had < 10 cfu/100 mL. Storing boiled water in a covered container was associated with safer product water than storage in an uncovered container.

Language: en