Influence of household practices on the performance of clay pot water filters in rural Cambodia H.M. Murphy a  , M. Sampson b , E. McBean a , K. Farahbakhsh a a School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada Tel. 519-824-4120 (52231); Fax 519-836-0227; email: murphy@uoguelph.ca b Resource Development International Cambodia (RDIC), Kandal Province, Cambodia Received 31 January 2008; revised accepted 15 May 2008 Abstract Currently, only 41% of Cambodians have access to safe drinking water. To combat this issue, Resource Development International Cambodia (RDIC) has been promoting and developing affordable clay pot water filters to be sold across the country. Although the filters have excellent bacterial removal capabilities, researchers have identified that the contamination of water storage containers through improper household practices is an important issue that needs to be addressed. Twelve Cambodian households were selected to investigate the causes of contamination in plastic water storage containers used in clay pot filtration. Some of the findings of the study include: (1) improper maintenance and cleaning practices may cause an increase in bacterial counts (HPCs, TC and Escherichia coli) in treated water storage receptacles and (2) common causes of container contamination were improper cleaning, moving of the filter, placing the filter element on the ground, putting dirty hands inside the plastic container, and drying the container using a dirty cloth. Keywords: Household water treatment; Clay pot water filters; Storage containers; Cambodia; Biofilm 1. Introduction Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Currently, only 41% of Cambodians have access to safe drinking water [1]. To combat this issue, Resource Development International Cambodia (RDIC) along with other Non Governmental Organi- sations has been developing and promoting affordable household water treatment technologies to be sold across the country. RDIC manufactures clay pot water filters using locally available materials and resources. A study conduced in Cambodia showed that these clay filters can reduce diarrheal disease by 50% [2]. Although the filters have the potential for excellent bacterial removal capabilities, researchers have iden- tified that the contamination of water storage contain- ers through improper household practices is an important issue that needs to be addressed [2–5].  Corresponding author. Presented at the Water and Sanitation in International Development and Disaster Relief (WSIDDR) International Workshop Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 28–30 May 2008. 0011-9164/0x/$– See front matter # 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.desal.0000.00.000 Desalination 252 (2010) 145–152