Evaluating a Water Quality Assurance Fund Intervention in Ghana and Kenya
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 招募中
- 入组人数
- 4,800
- 试验地点
- 2
- 主要终点
- Adequate free chlorine residual in water at the point of collection
研究概览
简要总结
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of a novel financial and capacity strengthening intervention (the 'Water Quality Assurance Fund' program) on water safety management in rural Ghana and Kenya. The investigators hypothesize the intervention will improve water system operator knowledge, chlorination practices, and water quality at the point of collection, as well as improve consumer satisfaction, awareness, and willingness-to-pay for water that is tested and treated.
详细描述
Regular water quality monitoring by water suppliers is essential for maintaining adequate treatment processes and verifying safe water quality to protect public health. Yet, many small water suppliers are unable to conduct regular water quality tests due to financial, logistical, and capacity constraints. The goals of the Water Quality Assurance Fund program are to address these constraints by incentivizing established laboratories to extend their services to these smaller water systems and, in parallel, promote the use of water quality data for better water safety management.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of a novel financial and capacity strengthening intervention (the 'Water Quality Assurance Fund' program) on water safety management in rural Ghana and Kenya. As part of the intervention, written legal agreements between water systems, centralized laboratories, and the organization facilitating the Assurance Fund will provide water systems with regular water quality testing and provide laboratories a guarantee of payments if water systems fail to pay for testing services on time. The Assurance Fund program will also deliver capacity strengthening, technical guidance, and community sensitization activities.
The investigators hypothesize the intervention will improve water system operator knowledge, chlorination practices, and water quality at the point of collection, as well as improve consumer satisfaction, awareness, and willingness-to-pay for water that is tested and treated. A secondary aim is to assess implementation challenges and enabling factors associated with the expansion of water testing services by existing professional water quality laboratories to rural water suppliers.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Sequential
- 主要目的
- Other
- 盲法
- None
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 —（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 否
入选标准
- •Eligibility to receive the intervention was determined by water system criteria:
- •Inclusion Criteria:
- •The district or county government was interested in participating in the Assurance Fund program and water systems within the district/county were accessible to a partner central laboratory that was able to provide water sample collection and testing services for a fee.
- •Water systems were functional.
- •Water systems were piped water systems (Kenya, Ghana) or mechanized boreholes with a single tapstand (Ghana).
- •Water systems could afford regular water quality testing from the selected laboratory.
排除标准
- •Water systems did not meet above inclusion criteria.
- •To be eligible to participate in household surveys, participants need to be at least 18 years of age and a customer of a eligible water system.
研究组 & 干预措施
Assurance Fund Intervention Arm 1
In this study arm, intervention activities will start after initial baseline data collection.
干预措施: Water Quality Assurance Fund (Other)
Assurance Fund Intervention Arm 2
The intervention activities are the same as those described in Arm 1. However, in this study arm, the intervention activities will start 6 months later than those in Arm 1. This arm will serve as a controlled comparison during those initial 6 months.
干预措施: Water Quality Assurance Fund (Other)
Assurance Fund Intervention Arm 3
The intervention activities are the same as those described in Arm 1. However, in this study arm, the intervention activities will start 12 months later than those in Arm 1. This arm will serve as a controlled comparison during those initial 12 months.
干预措施: Water Quality Assurance Fund (Other)
Non-randomized Arm
In Ghana only, there is a fourth study arm that will receive the intervention one month prior to Arm 1. This group was non-randomly selected and will primarily serve to support qualitative lessons learned from the Assurance Fund program.
干预措施: Water Quality Assurance Fund (Other)
结局指标
主要结局
Adequate free chlorine residual in water at the point of collection
时间窗: Baseline, 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, 24-months
Free chlorine residual in water at the point of collection above targeted levels of 0.2 mg/L.
次要结局
- E. coli in water at the point of collection(Baseline, 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, 24-months)
- Water system operator knowledge(Baseline, 12-months, 24-months)
- Consumer awareness(Baseline, 12-months, 24-months)
- Consumer satisfaction(Baseline, 12-months, 24-months)
- Detectable free chlorine residual in water at the point of collection(Baseline, 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, 24-months)
- Detectable free chlorine residual in household stored water(Baseline, 12-months, 24-months)
- E. coli in household stored water(Baseline, 12-months, 24-months)
- Adequate free chlorine residual in household stored water(Baseline, 12-months, 24-months)
- Willingness-to-pay(Baseline, 12-months, 24-months)