Evaluation of traditional filters for water purification in Burkina Faso.

Most tropical water springs are polluted with microbial agents such as faecal coliforms and streptococci, so for the present and the forseeable future, boreholes are considered to be the most appropriate system for reducing the bacterial contamination of water. However, from source to consumer, safe drinking water usually becomes polluted with faecal bacteria. This observation which calls into question the success of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade should stimulate efforts to provide a reliable means of water purification. The use of traditional filters prepared with sand, gravel and charcoal has been proposed but our results reveal that they give no guarantee for the purification of bacteria-polluted water.