An Application of the Integrated Behavioral Model for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene to Assess Perceived Community Acceptability and Feasibility of the Biosand Filter among Maasai Pastoralists in Rural Tanzania.

In addition to diarrheal disease risk, lack of access to safe water may have other indirect effects throughout one's life, such as school and workplace absenteeism, leading to less economic productivity. In contexts with scarce resources and unsafe drinking water, household water treatment and safe storage options such as the Biosand filter (BSF) allows households to directly reduce contamination and increase the quality of their drinking water. This study aimed to develop an understanding of perceived community acceptability and feasibility related to pre- and post-implementation of a BSF pilot project in rural Maasai households in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), Tanzania.

Water Scarcity and Water Quality: Identifying Potential Unintended Harms and Mitigation Strategies in the Implementation of the Biosand Filter in Rural Tanzania.

Bottom-up public health interventions are needed which are built on an understanding of community perspectives. Project SHINE is a community-based participatory action research intervention focused on developing sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene strategies with Maasai pastoralists in Tanzania. The aim of the study is to understand perceptions related to water quality and scarcity as well as to assess the potential of the Biosand Filter as a low-cost, low-tech water treatment option.