Project Partners

• PAHO
• 
  National Subsecretariat of Tropical Medicine of the Ministry of Public Health
• 
  Provincial Directorates of Health
• 
  Health Area Offices
• 
  Subsecretariat of Environmental Sanitation of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing
• 
  Embassy of the Netherlands
• 
  USAID

Target Populations/Location

• Populations affected by the El Nino phenomenon in Guayas, El Oro, Los Rios, Manabi, and Galapagos Provinces

Project Design

• Implementation of a community-based project utilizing hypochlorite generators already existing, but underutilized, in project communities

Intervention Elements

• Sodium hypochlorite solution produced locally using appropriate technology
• 
  Locally-produced, 20-liter plastic containers with spigots
• 
  Community education

Project Start Date

• January 1998

Results of Project Evaluations

• 24 hypochlorite production centers were established in 5 provinces
• 
  A network of production and distribution of sodium hypochlorite was created with approximately 210 distribution centers in Ministry of Health facilities or houses of health promoters or community health volunteers
• 
  Approximately 200,000 persons have benefited from the project
• 
  In more than 50% of project households, water quality improved, with no detectable colonies of fecal coliforms in stored water
• 
  The project has been incorporated into regular activities of the Provincial Health Directorates
• 
  The project has also been incorporated into a newly created National Program of Water Disinfection at the Household Level

For More Information

• changops@telconet.net
• 
  msdinasa@punto.net.ec
• 
  safewater@cdc.gov

1600 Clifton Road, MS-A38
Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: +1(404) 639-0231
Email: safewater@cdc.gov