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[[Image:safe_water_systems_icon.png|right]]
[[Image:dispenser in box.jpg|thumb|right|250px200px|chlorine dispenser in its fixed stand]]
In many rural areas where infrastructure is poor, finding solutions for contaminated drinking water is difficult. Dilute chlorine solution is often sold in bottles to be used at a household level to disinfect water. For more information about water disinfection using chlorine see [[Chlorine (Sodium Hypochlorite) ]] The costs of packaging and distributing these bottles however are very high. Because of this, chlorine disinfection is unaffordable for most rural households, even though the cost of the actual chlorine is only around 5% of the price of the bottle. It is much more efficient for the chlorine to be bought in bulk and placed in dispensers at local water sources, increasing the intake of chlorine and so the average drinking water quality.
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! width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" | Advantages
! style="background:#ffdeadf0f8ff;" | Disadvantages
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| valign="top" | - Convenient as chlorine is available at the water source <br>
==Construction, operations and maintenance==
[[Image:chlorine dispenser.jpg|thumb|right|250px200px|Chlorine dispenser in use]]A dispenser of dilute chlorine solution is installed on a fixed stand in a lockable box. Below the box is a dosing valve so users turn a knob and a specific dose of chlorine is released. This dose is appropriate to treat the amount of water usually collected. As the water is transported back home, there is contact time for the chlorine to act.
====Maintenance====
Pilot programs are also being organised by NGOs in Swaziland, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh.
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|[[Image:rsr 787.jpg|thumb|none|200px|<font size="2"><center>Project 787</center></font>|link=http://www.akvo.org/rsr/project/787/]]
|'''AKVO RSR Project:''' [http://www.akvo.org/rsr/project/787/ MWA-LAP: Guatemala]
CARE will implement the program in Guatemala, concentrating activities in the Department of San Marcos which is in the Western Highlands of the country as can be seen in the accompanying map. This area is characterized by limited access to safe water – 40% of the rural population lack access. Access to improved sanitation facilities is similarly low -- 48% of the rural population lacks access.
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==Manuals, videos, and links==