Our research on water seeks to establish the evidence concerning the impact of water on human health and to explore innovative ways to sustainably deliver effective and affordable interventions to the most vulnerable populations. Our Cochrane Review on interventions to improve water quality for the prevention of infectious diarrhoea demonstrated that household-based approaches, such as using locally-produced ceramic filters, are more than twice as effective in preventing diarrhoeal disease as conventional improvements at the water source. Our cost-effectiveness analysis of such interventions, undertaken for the World Health Organization, found such interventions to be highly cost effective.

We work with

• private companies to help develop and test new products and technologies and to increase uptake through demand-driven strategies

• governments to develop standards and technology verification procedures for such products

• NGOs who seek to implement such interventions in development and emergency settings

• donors and international organisations to take successful approaches to scale in order to advance the Millennium Development Goals to increase access to safe water and reduce poverty and child mortality.

Current Projects

• The International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage
  Hygiene Centre staff helped found and continue to provide vital leadership to this WHO-backed network among governments, international organizations, donors, research institutions and private companies committed to advance health by improving the quality of water in the home.

• Increasing Uptake of Household Water Treatment
  Building on the Hygiene Centre's expertise in understanding and using the complex factors that affect human behaviour in adopting healthful innovations, staff are working with private companies to develop creative marketing campaigns and communication strategies to increase acceptance and long-term use of household-based products to improve water quality.

• Scaling Up Household Water Treatment
  Under a contract with the WHO, members of the Hygiene Centre are analysing worldwide coverage of household water treatment, documenting the strategies employed to date to expand implementation, and develop recommendations to increase coverage following commercial, quasi-commercial and public/NGO models.

• Point-of-Use Water Treatment in Emergencies
  Having completed an evaluation of the drinking water response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami for the WHO, Hygiene Centre investigators are currently working with NGO's to explore the role of point-of-use water treatment in response to natural disasters and complex emergencies.
  

Key Researchers

T Clasen
R Aunger
A Biran
M Jenkins
B Scott