Perceived Health Benefits of Using Non-Electrical Water Filters under ‘Clean India Mission’ Programme in a Village of Bhopal

Abstract In India, the access to clean and safe drinking water to rural population is very limited, hence the Government of India has initiated multiple schemes to tackle the problem of huge health burden due to poor quality of water in rural areas. Under ‘Clean India Mission’ cost-effective, non-electric water filters were distributed (n=144 households) in Barkheda Bondar village of Bhopal district in Central India and after one year of usage, a questionnaire based door-to-door survey was conducted to assess the usage and perceived health benefits of water filters by the users. The study showed that the acceptance of water filter among rural population was about 82% and 69.4% of the population reported reduction in the frequency of various water-related diseases. The present study shows that the use of non-electric water filters on mass basis in rural India is efficacious for providing safe drinking water.