Safe Water Research
International Aid's pioneering Plastic BioSand Water Filter incorporates a proven method of slow sand filtration currently in use in more than 30 countries worldwide. Laboratory and field tests have shown this method to be highly effective as effective as traditional slow sand filters in reducing the array of disease-causing organisms found in water.
First-of-its-kind UNC-Chapel Hill study determines BioSand reduces diarrhea, improves drinking water
Now, according to newly released results from the first rigorous study on the topic, the BioSand method has been shown to reduce one of the major causes of disease and death in developing countries: diarrhea. This finding is based on initial analysis from a 2006 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill epidemiological study that compared BioSand users and non-users in two villages near Bonao, Dominican Republic.
Researchers from UNC-CH, led by Professor Mark D. Sobsey of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, found that use of the BioSand method (in a concrete filter system) achieved significant diarrheal disease reduction among household members, including in young children less than age five. According to the researchers, this kind of evidence provides the basis for encouraging more widespread promotion and use of these filters to reduce the global burden of diarrheal disease.
Additional IA research planned: Africa, Central America, Asia
To complement these findings, International Aid has announced a pending health impact study, to be funded by Dow Chemical Corporation, designed to test the effectiveness of International Aid's new plastic version of the BioSand filter in Ghana, West Africa. This study is the first of three research initiatives International Aid intends to sponsor across three continents and will examine both the filter's ability to improve water quality and the ability of local communities to successfully adopt the new technology. Drawing on the support of an anonymous donor, International Aid will soon launch a similar plastic filter study in Central America, and expects to pursue research in Asia in the near term.
