"World Heath Care Congress Affordable Health Innovations Exhibit and Awards" 7th Annual World Health Care Congress 2010

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Some 80 percent of the unserved for water and sanitation live in rural areas where centralized water distribution and treatment systems are often too complicated or expensive. In this and millions of other cases where families do not trust the water quality, treatment at the household level is the only viable option.

In recent years, a number of promising new options for disinfection and filtering have been developed. One option is the Siphon filter concept developed by the Basic Water Needs Foundation. Some 70.000 filters are now in use in Vietnam, India, Tanzania, Mozambique, and other countries. This low-cost filter is also suitable for distribution in refugee camps because of its small size and ease of operation. The Siphon filter consists of a high-quality filtering element, plastic hose, a bulb and a valve that can be applied to existing storage containers. The filter element is impregnated with silver in order to increase the efficiency of the filter. The filter works by placing the element in a container with contaminated water, situated about 70 cm above the clean water container. The siphon action is started by squeezing the rubber bulb. The siphon pressure forces the water through the filter element, ensuring a high flow of water. After some time, the flow rate may reduce because of a clogged filter element, so backwashing will clean the filter. This is accomplished by closing the valve and squeezing the rubber bulb, which forces the water back through the filter, pushing dirt particles out of the filter. Waterlaboratorium Noord, an independent laboratory in The Netherlands, tested the siphon filter and found that it removed 99.99% of E.coli.

During the recent Cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, 8800 Siphon filters were disseminated, combined with hygiene education. The result was that none of the families using the filter reported cases of cholera.

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