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A rational management of defluoridation works must include surveillance of defluoride filters, estimation of individual operation periods, and on-time recharge of saturated filters. This is done best in a database, where all necessary information is included, i.e., about the client, the site, the raw water, the water analyses, the filter, its recharges, and, most importantly, its first expected date of exhaustion and recharge. Automatically, the database would produce up-to-date lists of installed filters that would need recharge and further merge E-mails to clients indicating to them the length of time their filters have been operating, offering them new recharges on time, and stating to them the prices and conditions. Our experience shows that the database and the E-mail reminders made the maintenance and the surveillance of the filters more efficient and this has contributed to a higher sustainability of defluoridation works. The principles and setup of the Defluoridation Technology Project database are explained further. It is concluded that defluoridation works can only be sustainable if managed efficiently through a database system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard defluoridation capacity procedure was utilised to quantify the differences between the differently coloured bone chars, that are obtained in the charcoal packed furnace used in large scale production in Tanzania and Kenya. The highest defluoridation capacities were obtained with black and brown coloured bone char, while grey and white bone chars were the result of poor charring, with a deteriorated defluoridation capacity. Maintaining the bone char in black and brown may however introduce problems of discoloration, objectionable taste and smell, and elevated salinity. Post-treatment by means of mild acidification and water wash alleviated these side-effects, making it possible to produce a high quality bone char with respect to both the defluoridation capacity and the quality of the treated water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]