Autor: Dr. Zebaze Togouet S. H.
Hydrobiologiste/Environnementaliste
Coodinator SODIS in Cameroon

By way of illustration, we asked the promoters after training and during the refresher course to practise SODIS in their own homes. Only SODIS water was consumed throughout the courses. However, two students analysed the raw water before its consumption and after SODIS application. The results of the three most interesting settlements are described hereafter. SODIS was well applied by the PESSAF groups (Photo 1: NTABA NLONGKAK settlement) and SARKAM ZOUMOUTSI (Photo 2: BRIQUETERIE settlement). Photo 1 illustrates the first raw water test of the well at NTABA NLONGKAK containing important indicator colonies (95 UFC of which 4 were E. coli). Photo 2 shows the raw water of BRIQUETERIE (75 UFC of which 3 were E. coli). After SODIS application the water no longer contained any contamination.

Autor: Albert Baliesima
Province of the Anglican Church of Congo (PEAC)
Health and HIV/AIDS Programmes

SODIS Technique in the DR Congo: Achievements and challenges

1. Sodis experience in Kisoro and Kibera
From 13 to 15 June 2007, a SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection) training workshop was held in Kisoro, Uganda, organised by EAWAG, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, and The Water School (Canada) to provide delegates from six African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ghana, and DR Congo) with know-how and skills on how to introduce or reinforce SODIS initiatives in communities lacking safe water. The DR Congo was represented by delegates from the Province of the Anglican Church of Congo/Health and HIV/AIDS Programmes Coordination Office.

Kisoro is a mountainous rural area with scarce water resources, thus also with limited drinking water, especially in the dry season. As part of the training, a guided field visit was conducted to the households using SODIS. Kibera is a slum area in Nairobi, Kenya, with a very poor water distribution system for reasons of high promiscuity. Due to the age of Kibera’s water distribution system, an important water quantity does not reach the inhabitants as the pipes suffer from leakage. Promiscuity is so high and the water quantity so low that the limited amount of water supplied can hardly satisfy the high need of this slum population.

Since the inhabitants of Kisoro mainly harvest water in the rainy season, they require containers to collect the water from the roof of their houses. However, containers are costly and therefore not affordable by this low-income population. The prevailing aforementioned conditions have an impact on the sustainability of the SODIS programme in the area. SODIS was introduced for example in Kisoro’s households under the ‘‘Compassion Programme”, which provides polythene tanks, PET bottles, and SODIS tables to each of the SODIS beneficiary households. What will happen to the SODIS programme in Kisoro once the Compassion Programme ends?

2. Sodis program in DR Congo

Despite the immensity of its natural resources, including great lakes and rivers, the DR Congo remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Some indicators line the DR Congo among the lowest-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost 80 % of the population in DR Congo live with less than $0.3 per day per person, and only 26.1 % of the population have access to clean water. Water related diseases are among the main leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the DR Congo especially among children under five. The Anglican Church of Congo has been among the actors fighting water related diseases in the eastern DR Congo. In collaboration with PPSSP (Programme de Promotion de Soins de Santé Primaires), the Province of the Anglican Church of Congo is contributing to increase the population with access to clean water in eastern Congo through construction of water sources and integration of SODIS technique in the already prevailing methods.

The SODIS programme was launched by a series of meetings with the health zones officials, as well as with local and church leaders in the areas targeted by the project. After obtaining the approval of these key leaders, SODIS promoters were selected by the Health Management Committees in collaboration with local and church leaders, and PET bottles were simultaneously collected from hotels, restaurant and markets. On 22 and 24 August 2007, two training workshops were held in Kasindi and Nobili/Kamango, respectively. A total of 110 people such as health workers, community health promoters, local and church leaders, as well as school leaders were trained on the SODIS techniques in order to disseminate it in their respective communities and workplaces. The first reaction of the trainees was surprise: “We didn’t know that the sun had the power to purify our unsafe water! If we had known this before, cholera would not have killed our dear family members”, were some of the reactions by the participants. “We thank the organisers of this workshop for showing us this technique, now Cholera is defeated”.

3. Achievements

SODIS has been warmly welcomed and accepted by the community in eastern DR Congo, specifically in Kamango and Kasindi.
Within a short time, 148 and 155 households in Kasindi and Kamango, respectively, are correctly using SODIS. This has can be attributed to the hard work of two supervisors and 33 promoters.

Reasons behind this easy acceptation:

1. The Province of the Anglican Church of Congo (PEAC), which introduced SODIS in Congo, had already intervened in these areas to combat water related diseases, including cholera through health education campaigns, construction of water sources and latrines, and installation of latrines and hand-washing facilities.

2. The Church has acquired the confidence of the community via charity performances, by its Health Centres in Kamango and Kasindi and by the HIV and AIDS related activities.

3. SODIS has been a complimentary technique to other already existing water and sanitation related activities aiming at reducing morbidity and mortality of water related diseases in these areas.

4. The method has received the approval of health officials, local as well as church leaders prior to the start of project activities.

5. Statements by the beneficiaries: a) The SODIS technique is good because it does not change the taste of the water; b) It is cheap, simple and easy.

6. Leadership: Supervisors and promoters were selected among the local population in collaboration with the Community Health Promoters, as well as local and church leaders in the targeted communities.

4. Challenges

So far, the availability of bottles is the main challenge faced by the project. The Project Manager is rounding up more bottles from Uganda and local hotels to meet the high community demand. Beneficiaries are encouraged to look for PET bottles in their neighbourhood and in hotels.

The ongoing strike in public schools hindered the organisation of SODIS school brigades training. This activity will be conducted as soon as the strike is over.

1. Stakeholders Workshop on Solar Water Disinfection in Nairobi

Kenya Water for Health Organisation (KWAHO) held a one-day stakeholders’ workshop on 27th June 2007 and generated the following insights that can be shared with other stakeholders through this Newsletter:

1. Advocacy – Participants acknowledged that it is critical to carry out elaborate advocacy on SODIS since the method is still not widely known. The role of Eawag in developing and giving relevant information materials on SODIS to institutions in Kenya is crucial at this stage. This was already carried out by Martin Wegelin in response to the participants’ request.

2. Research – There is a need for ongoing research to support the technology by simplifying the materials for popular use.

3. Integration – Integration of SODIS into Kenya’s health programmes will enhance integrity and acceptance of the intervention.

4. Networking – Expand the networking – KWAHO will undertake this activity under the coordination of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

5. Core group – A core group consisting of Ministry of Health, Water and Irrigation, UNICEF and KWAHO was formed for the purpose of pushing forward issues on the SODIS coordinating group.

2. Upscaling SODIS programmes

KWHO has embarked on an aggressive plan to promote SODIS on a large scale in order to meet the demand of safe water and also to contribute towards achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Herewith below are some of the steps taken towards realisation of the goals:

• Setting up a SODIS Reference Centre for the East African region. KWAHO was chosen to be the reference for this region due to its successful implementation of SODIS projects since March 2004. KWAHO plans to implement this actively by funds from the Lions Club, i.e. Sandec/Eawag.

• Needs Assessment in the Nyalenda slum in Kisumu district: The objective was to assess the needs of the community in relation to water supply and quality, hygiene and sanitation situation so as to respond by implementing SODIS. The data collected indicate that there is a need for safe drinking water. As a result, KWAHO submitted a proposal to the Lions Cub through SANDEC/Eawag for possible funding.

• Marketing and Up-scaling – The marketing strategy planning group was assisted by UNICEF who offered to assist in the up-scaling SODIS to five districts. Through UNICEF request KWAHO has so far submitted two proposals for Wajir and Mandera, north-eastern districts of Kenya to be funded by UNICEF.

3. SODIS in schools

KWAHO has been working with the community schools in the project areas in an attempt to reach children who are the most vulnerable group. The following success was achieved so far:
• Five community primary schools are practicing SODIS

• Reduction in cases of diarrhoea in schools practising SODIS.

• Formation of Health Clubs in schools to enhance SODIS and proper hygiene promotion.

4. Health impact study (survey)

To assess the impact of SODIS on the user families, KWAHO carried out an impact study in collaboration with Sandec. The following results were observed among the user families.

There is a 42 % reduction in cases of diarrhoea among children under the age of five in households with consistent SODIS users.

5. Opinions from the community

Participants of the networking workshop for SODIS user families voiced the following opinions on SODIS:

i. SODIS tastes nice and natural compared to other treatment methods, such as boiling, chlorination etc.
ii. The money you save on fuel and medication can be used to buy more food and fruit.
iii. SODIS reduced cases of diarrhoea among children under five compared to before the intervention.
iv. Generation of income through the sale of SODIS bottles.
v. Appreciation is given to KWAHO for introducing the technology.

6. Regular water quality tests

KWAHO has been conducting single and water tests and in pairs to establish the microbiological quality of both raw and SODIS treated water in the project areas to:

i. Establish SODIS efficiency
ii. If water sources are contaminated
iii. Establish secondary contamination through unhygienic water handling practices at the point of use
iv. Determine water safety at the point of use

Autor: Max Wehrle and Catherine Loumont

Gooaaaall !!! Hitou leads 1 : 0
The public is shouting, the girls are dancing and singing alongside the football field.
The SODIS Cup on the table in front of us is waiting for the winning team. What a great event!

The idea to organise a SODIS Football Cup was suggested by the Coordinator Hyacinthe Diedhiou during our SODIS mission in the Casamance. We went back to Switzerland and returned six month later with many sponsored objects for the next mission and also for the SODIS Cup. Five teams, formed by more or less young students representing theirs villages, fought for the cup, footballs, T-shirts and other items.

The event was well received and we were invited to repeat it next year complemented by a musical and theatrical part in the evening.
We discovered another possibility to disseminate SODIS.

Bob Dell from Wateraid had the opportunity to meet Professor Prof. Dr. William Shotyk from the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of the University of Heidelberg.

Prof. Dr. William Shotyk says that he may be quoted that the issue of antimony in the drinking water of the people we are trying to help with SODIS is not an issue. In his opinion, even under extreme solar conditions for the few days that the water is in the bottle, the Sb level would be less than 50 parts per trillion. The point that he has tried to make with his work is that even if the level of Sb after several months in the PET bottles is lower than WHO drinking water standard, he wants people to be aware that there is an increasing level of Sb in these bottles that is not present in ordinary tap water which is safer to drink. The media have tended to distort his message and people have concluded that it is not safe to drink aged bottled water at all or that they should not ever reuse PET bottles. In fact, it is less of an issue to refill the PET bottles with tap water and consume the water each day rather than drink the water from long stored water in the original bottle.

Prof. William Shotyk made an official statement on SODIS, which can be downloaded from our website.

Antimony release from PET bottles during limited exposure to sunlight

“Without reservation, I fully endorse the work of SODIS in bringing clean water to the people of Africa by placing contaminated water in PET plastic bottles for a few hours in the sun. Compared to the life-threatening problem of bacterial contamination, the extent to which antimony is expected to be released after a few hours of exposure to the sun is so small that it represents no potential harm to the consumer.
The opportunity to eliminate harmful pathogens by this simple method using UV rays of the sun makes sense for millions of people, especially children dying of water-borne diseases every year.”

19 October 2007, Prof. Dr. William Shotyk

Retirement of Martin Wegelin

Research

Berney, M., Weilenmann, H.-U., Ihssen, J., Bassin, C., Egli, T. (2006). Specific growth rate determines the sensitivity of enteric bacteria to thermal, UVA and solar disinfection. Applied and Environmental Microbiology p. 2586-2593, Vol. 72, No. 4 ..
Berney, M., Weilenmann, H.-U., Simonetti, A., Egli, T. (2006). Efficacy of solar disinfection of E. coli, S. flexneri, S. typhimurium and V. cholerae. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 101: 828-836

Cost-effectiveness of water quality interventions for preventing diarrhoeal disease in developing countries
Thomas Clasen, Laurence Haller, Damian Walker, Jamie Bartram and
Sandy Cairncross

Others

WHO Publication: The international Network to promote household water treatment and safe strorage: Combating Waterborne Disease at the Houshold Level, (ISBN 978 92 4 159522 3)
This brochure can be ordered with a mail at the following address: e-mail: bookorders@who.int or downloaded under http://www.who.int/household_water/advocacy/combating_disease.pdf