The acceptability and effectiveness of a polyester drinking-water filter in a dracunculiasis-endemic village in northern region, Ghana.

In the global effort to eradicate dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) one of the main tools is the use of filters for filtering unsafe drinking-water. The expensive and high-quality monofilament nylon filters, which for many years were donated to all dracunculiasis-endemic countries, are now mainly reserved for highly endemic countries. Polyester cloth is less expensive, and we investigated the user acceptability and effectiveness of this material as a drinking-water filter in a dracunculiasis-endemic village in Northern Region, Ghana, over a 3-month period. The polyester cloth completely retained the stages of copepods that are responsible for transmitting dracunculiasis. Over the 3-month study period a majority of respondents found that the new cloth was superior to the nylon filter with regard to strength (83%), filtering time (80%), and the ease with which the filter could be cleaned (87%). Inspection revealed that the filters were used intensively and that the new cloth was damaged after 2-3 months of use, which is also the case for the monofilament nylon filters.