Three-pot household water treatment system: Testing the effectiveness

Water is one of the basic human needs, crucial for survival. Although two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered by water, only 2% of it is fresh water (Reed, 2012, p. 1.2), potentially suitable for human needs. This small amount is often contaminated and in addition the world’s overpopulation, industrialization and climate change exacerbate the global water shortages (Jones, 1997, p.2). It is commonly reported that 1,1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. The fact that 2.6 billion people lack adequate access to sanitation as well, is a proof of why water is so often contaminated with faecal matter, thus why 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (figures from: HWTS Network, 2007, p. 7). One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), target 7C, was to halve by 2015 the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities. Recently, that target of water was reported to have been reached already (UN, 2012). In spite of the proportion being halved, that still leaves the rest half without safe water, which is millions of people. “The lack of access to water and sanitation still for millions of people is the greatest development failure of modern era” (CIWEM, 2012, p. 1). So the battle to minimize the figure of people without access to safe water or to promote further development is an on-going long-term goal, even when the intermediary targets, like the MDGs, are achieved.....