Chlorine Dispenser
Chlorine dispensers installed at communal water points, paired with door-to-door household education on safe water treatment. Diarrhea kills more children under five than malaria, and chlorination is one of the highest-evidence, lowest-cost ways to stop it.
What is involved in a Chlorine Dispenser program?
A chlorine dispenser program combines physical infrastructure at the point of water collection with frontline-delivered household education. Workers install and maintain dispensers, train communities on correct use, conduct door-to-door counseling on safe water storage, and monitor adoption and usage. Every visit is logged and verified through the Connect platform.
Dispenser Installation
Chlorine dispensers are mounted directly at communal water points (boreholes, hand pumps, and collection taps), so households can self-dispense chlorine into their containers as they collect water. Installation is coordinated with local health authorities and water point operators.
Household Education
Door-to-door visits to every household in the program area. Frontline Workers demonstrate correct chlorine dosing, explain how chlorinated water prevents diarrhea, and address common household-level barriers to adoption, including taste concerns, confusion about dosage, and beliefs about water safety.
Safe Water Storage Counseling
Guidance on storing treated water safely at home (covered containers, dedicated water vessels, hand-washing at water collection) to prevent recontamination after chlorination. Chlorinated water remains safe for up to 72 hours when stored correctly.
Community Mobilization
Engaging community leaders, water point operators, and faith networks to drive adoption. Local organizations with existing community relationships recruit the Frontline Workers who deliver household education, the same locally led model used across every Connect program.
Usage Monitoring and Refill
Regular checks on dispenser stock levels and usage rates. Empty dispensers are refilled; broken units are reported for repair. Monitoring data is captured in the Connect app, giving program managers visibility on coverage and adoption across the deployment area.
Chlorine Dispenser
Launching 2026
GiveWell awarded a $1M grant in January 2026 to launch chlorine dispenser installation and household education across Nigeria. The program is part of GiveWell’s $19.7M Safe Water portfolio, 18 grants to 12+ organizations delivering safe water across West and East Africa. Data and findings will be published as the program launches.
See the GiveWell Blog →Why chlorine? Because it works at scale.
Chlorination is one of the most robustly evidenced low-cost water interventions in global health. Point-of-collection dispensers (liquid chlorine mounted directly at hand pumps and communal water points) consistently outperform household-level filters and sachets on adoption, because the behavior change is smaller: chlorinate at the tap, not at home.
Evidence Action’s Dispensers for Safe Water program, the model Dimagi’s program is informed by, has reached over 5 million people across Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi. GiveWell’s Safe Water portfolio, which now includes Dimagi, projects 2,000+ deaths averted across 18 active grants, mostly in children under five. The Connect platform adds verified household education delivery on top of the physical dispenser infrastructure.
Technical assistance for Connect’s program is provided by Evidence Action. Baseline and endline surveys are conducted by independent external firms. Chlorine has limited effectiveness against Cryptosporidium; the program targets bacterial and viral pathogens, which account for the majority of diarrheal disease burden in the target geographies.
Interested in safe water at scale?
We’re launching the Chlorine Dispenser program in Nigeria in 2026. If you’re interested in co-funding, designing, or expanding to additional geographies, reach out.
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