Determinants of the diffusion of SODIS. A quantitative field study in Bolivia [Summary report

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) represents a simple, low cost technology for the treatment of drinking water on a household-level. Safe drinking water is provided by exposing water-filled plastic bottles to sunlight allowing the combined germicidal effects of both UV radiation and heat to kill waterborne pathogens. Despite the obvious advantages of the technology and considerable promotion activities, in some areas SODIS has encountered a rather slow and limited uptake. In order to gain insight into this discrepancy a field survey was conducted using a questionnaire based on a set of theories from social psychology as well as diffusion theory. Two main research questions were focused upon: Firstly, we wanted to gain insights into which were the most important factors that influence the adoption or rejection of SODIS. Secondly, we wanted to examine which diffusion strategy or combination of strategies fosters the diffusion of SODIS the best. The field work included visits to 8 different areas in Bolivia, selected from criteria such as different geographical location (valley, highlands, lowland) and different levels of urbanisation (suburban, rural), the presence of different NGOs as well as the duration o