TESTING THE WATERS Explore the development of simple tests for water quality and their impact on the lives of people in remote communities in Canada and the developing world.

Water Testing Technologies for People

Millions of people around the world do not have access to reliable sources of clean water. Drinking contaminated water can have deadly consequences; people risk catching potentially fatal diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, polio, and infectious hepatitis.

Water testing can alert a community to contaminants in time to prevent health problems. But conventional methods of testing require sophisticated laboratories, highly trained technicians, and expensive supplies -- most of which are unavailable in isolated communities.

In 1984, with the support of the International Development Research Centre, a network of researchers began to experiment with simpler and cheaper tests. Now, 12 years later, four effective Water Quality Tests are available for use in remote communities in Canada and in the developing world.

The tests are routinely applied in the Split Lake Cree First Nation in northern Manitoba. Cree technicians have travelled to Chile to train counterparts in two Mapuche indigenous communities on how to use the tests. The Cree are also teaching members of other First Nations in Canada how to test their water quality.

Milestones of Research

• Follow the development of the water quality tests from inception to their application in Canada and Chile.

The Science of Success

• Follow this link for a hotlist of scientific documents and resources related to IDRC's water quality projects.

Resource People

• Contacts for more information about IDRC's water quality projects in Canada, Chile, and Malaysia.

Links

• Aquatox 2000: The International School Network on Water Toxicity!
• Global Applied Research Network in Water Supply and Sanitation (GARNET)
• IDRC's Nayudamma Site: Portable Water-testing Kit

Credits