Grantee Research Project Results

Final Report: Using an integrated approach of rapid microbial detection technology and community education to reduce waterborne illness in Dar es Salaam Tanzania

EPA Grant Number: SU834299
Title: Using an integrated approach of rapid microbial detection technology and community education to reduce waterborne illness in Dar es Salaam Tanzania
Investigators: Jay, Jennifer , Boehm, Alexandria , Lee, Christine , Mika, Kathryn
Institution: University of California - Los Angeles
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2009 through August 14, 2010
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2009) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Objective:

This project will investigate the hypothesis that a portable, rapid detection method for pathogens and indicators can be used to reduce waterborne illnesses. This hypothesis will be investigated in two separate parts: (1) developing and testing a rapid, economical method for assessing drinking water quality; and (2) evaluating how this advanced knowledge of water contamination affects health behavior within the target community.

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

• Participated in the Uncommon Dialogue meeting, in which we were able to meet with local water authorities, tour various communities, and learn about the larger scale water challenges that unplanned communities face.
• Piloted rapid method in nine water samples, including water washed off the hands of mothers and source waters (collected at local well pumps). Compared bacteria concentrations measured with rapid method to concentrations detected by traditional, culture-based methods that currently are used to determine water quality in the United States.

Conclusions:

• Initial method validation and correlation with established methods are promising for the rapid method.
• Additional community outreach is required to develop a hygiene workshop and provide sufficient access to local community members to apply the method further.
• Additional understanding of contamination sources is required to ensure effectiveness of hygiene workshops and water quality/health education.

Proposed Phase II Objectives and Strategies:

• Conduct further testing of rapid methods for Enterococcus on at least 500 water samples, to be correlated with traditional method (membrane filtration).
  • Among the collected samples, subsets will be grouped to represent different types of water/contamination sources:
    • Mother’s hands
    • Source waters (wells, taps)
    • Agricultural, plant/crop surfaces
    • Drainage (waste channels, gutters)
    • Fomites (household, or communal areas)
    • Other to be determined
• Correlate samples with human-specific markers to better characterize sources of fecal pollution and pathogens.
• Conduct two hygiene workshops with our partners to assess how information delivery can impact hygiene behavior.
• Use GIS to map spatial distribution of fecal contamination measurements.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 1 publications for this project