This study assessed the handling and effectiveness of Bio-Sand-Filters (BSFs) in filtering water for human drinking purposes. The BSFs were installed in households in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania. Water microbiological (i.e., Escherichia coli, total viable counts (TVC) and total coliforms) and physico-chemical (i.e., turbidity and pH) quality was analysed before and after filtration. Escherichia coli were below the quantification limit (<1 Log CFU/ml) in the unfiltered water, TVC ranged from 2.2 - 2.9 Log CFU/ml and coliforms were from < 1 to 2 Log CFU/100ml. In filtered water samples, total viable counts and total coliforms significantly decreased to <1 Log CFU/ml. Also, turbidity decreased from 7 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) in unfiltered water to 6 NTU in filtered water samples. The pH of unfiltered water samples varied from 6.5 to 7.7 whereas that of filtered water ranged from 6.8 to 7.8. In general, BSF can significantly reduce microbiological contamination and water turbidity to the required standards without any thermal or chemical treatments. This water filtration technique is relatively cheap than the conventional boiling and chemical treatment methods; it is the best option to poor-resourced households.

Keywords: Bio-sand filter, water microbiology, water filtration, turbidity, pH, CFU, TVC