In low-resource contexts, household-level point-of-use water treatment (POUWT) techniques are the final, and sometimes only, barrier against waterborne illnesses, and in these and other water-related applications, health risks can be quantified using one of two methods. Firstly, Escherichia coli (or other indicator organism) counts can be used to monitor water and determine adherence to a health-based limit (i.e. compliance monitoring). Secondly, E. coli can be used to conduct a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), indicating the level of protection conferred by a given POUWT device by spiking test water with E. coli to ascertain a reduction efficacy relative to that target organism, a process referred to as challenge testing, which is typically carried out in a laboratory context. Although both methods are well established, both have scope for improvement for effective field application in low-resource contexts. Regarding compliance monitoring, I assessed the performance of a new low-cost field kit for E. coli enumeration, which was designed by others. I also assessed the feasibility of re-using some disposable materials, in terms of sterility and mechanical wear. The use of the new low-cost field kit was successful during the fieldwork campaign; however, re-using disposable materials introduced a relatively high occurrence of false positive results during E. coli enumeration. Use of the new low-cost field kit can reduce financial barriers, thus enabling greater water quality testing coverage. Regarding challenge testing, the aim of this study was to adapt current protocols to assess the household performance (as opposed to laboratory performance) of POUWT techniques. I developed a conceptual framework to conduct Field Challenge Tests (FCT’s) on POUWT techniques, using a probiotic health supplement containing E. coli as the challenge organism. I successfully carried out a FCT in Malawi with limited resources, verifying FCT viability. Applications of such FCT’s include quality control practices for manufactured devices, guiding QMRA and recommendations by public health organizations regarding POU device selection, and assessing the impact of user training programmes regarding POUWT techniques. / Graduate

AHEAD (Adventures in Health, Education, and Agricultural Development) is a small grass-roots non-governmental organization working in the rural Meatu, District in Northern Tanzania. The AHEAD project employs Tanzanian nurses who provide health education, child weighing and nutritional counseling, family planning, and antenatal services. AHEAD has recently developed a water quality testing initiative in order to combat unsafe water supplies using solar pasteurization. Dr. Robert Metcalf, an AHEAD volunteer offers "expertise" to Meatu through transfer of solar cooking technology. Each summer, AHEAD takes volunteers into this setting who bring with them both "altruistic" and non-altruistic reasons for volunteering, economic and social capital, and a taste of the world beyond Meatu. This thesis looks at the Summer 2001 AHEAD experience ethnographically from three perspectives: 1) as public health practice, 2) in relation to the contested domain of international "development" , and 3) situated within the larger literature of non-profit and volunteer action research. These three snapshots of AHEAD suggest a project of globalization, theorized as the flow of people, goods, and information across boundaries. / Master of Science