Household water
Rolling revision of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality
Household water treatment is included in the plan of work of the rolling revision of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality.
Background
Household water treatment is common in both the developed and developing world. There is now conclusive evidence that simple, acceptable, low-cost interventions at the household level are capable of dramatically improving the microbial quality of household stored water and reducing the attendant risks of diarrhoeal disease and death. A variety of physical and chemical treatment methods to improve the microbial quality of water are available, and many have been tested and implemented to varying extents in developed and developing countries. Several WHO regions (e.g. WPRO) have expressed considerable interest in this area.
The Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality Final Task Force meeting (Geneva, 2003) deleted part of a table referring to household water treatment (Table 7.6, section 7.3.2) and referred it to the rolling revision. In addition, although information is provided in chapter 7 about pathogen removal performance targets required by treatment processes used for piped supplies, additional information is required on the capacity of household and POU treatment devices to achieve pathogen removals from different types of source water. A supporting document on Managing Water in the Home is in draft form.
Expected end-product(s)
- An additional table dealing with household water treatment, for inclusion in the second addendum to the Third Edition, to extend the information contained in Table 7.6;
- Text on household treatment processes to remove chemical contaminants, for inclusion in chapter 8 of the Fourth Edition;
- Updated version of the supporting document Managing Water in the Home, for peer review at end of 2006;
- Assessment of capacity of devices used as a single barrier to meet required pathogen reductions, for possible inclusion in future editions of GDWQ
Progress to date
The need for guidance in the area of water quality changes in non-piped distribution and household management for developing countries in particular was agreed at the Berlin Coordinating Committee meeting (2000). A draft report was tabled at the joint Microbial Aspects Working Group and P&C Working Group meeting in Adelaide (2001) with extensive review and discussion, and meeting participants recommended that the comments and recommendations be addressed in improving the document. The revised document was presented and discussed at the expert consultation in Loughborough, UK (2001). The document Managing Water in the Home was published in 2002. The Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality Working Group meeting (Geneva, 2004) made a few recommendations on the content of the supporting document and agreed to a plan of work for dealing with household treatment in the GDWQ proper. The Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality Working Group meeting (Geneva, 2005) agreed that the plans for the identified tasks should proceed as scheduled, and the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality Working Group meeting (Geneva, 2006) suggested a path forward.
Household water treatment
The draft text is now available for review. Comments are welcome following the format on the comment sheet, below.
Comments on the draft background document above should be sent before 15 May 2007 to gdwqhousehold@who.int.
Non-piped water
The draft text is now available for review. Comments are welcome following the format on the comment sheet, below.
Comments on the draft background document above should be sent before 15 May 2007 to gdwqnonpiped@who.int.