As health agencies respond to the current Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, a UK manufacturer supplying water purification products for direct distribution in affected communities is warning that infection-control readiness must be planned long before an emergency takes hold.
Credit: Hydrachem
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A Liberian nurse washing his hands after treating a patient sick with Ebola in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
Hydrachem, which has more than 50 years’ experience in water purification and infection control, is currently supplying Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and UNICEF with its Oasis water purification tablets and granules.
The products generate a hypochlorous acid solution when dissolved, which has far superior disinfection capabilities compared to liquid bleach. This makes it ideal for supporting water treatment and surface disinfection in settings where fast, reliable infection prevention and control measures are essential.
The company says the current response highlights a practical but critical challenge in outbreak planning: it’s not enough for chlorine-based disinfection to be available in principle. Products must be capable of being stored, moved, prepared, and used consistently in areas where infrastructure, access, and supply chains may be under severe pressure.
Nicholas Barbieri, Chief Commercial Officer at Hydrachem, commented:
“In an outbreak, infection prevention often comes down to very practical questions. Can supplies get there quickly? Can they be stored safely? Can they be prepared correctly? And can response teams use them consistently under pressure? “Those details matter. Liquid bleach will continue to play an important role in infectious disease control, but long shelf-life formats such as tablets and granules should also be part of the preparedness conversation, particularly where transport, storage, and supply continuity are major challenges.”
While tablets and granules are not a replacement for wider infection prevention measures, they can offer practical advantages in humanitarian and public health settings. Their compact format, stability, and longer shelf life can make them easier to stockpile, transport, and deploy than liquid alternatives.
Hydrachem says the current Ebola response should prompt a wider discussion about how infection-control supplies are planned before emergencies, rather than sourced only once demand has already surged.
Nicholas added, “Preparedness is often talked about in broad terms, but in practice it comes down to decisions made long before an emergency begins. Building appropriate reserves of durable infection-control formats, including chlorine tablets and granules, is a practical step that can help health ministries, NGOs, and humanitarian teams respond faster and more consistently when outbreaks occur.
“This is not about one product or one format being the whole answer. It’s about making sure teams on the ground have practical, reliable options that work in real-world conditions, quickly.”
Chlorine-based products are one part of a wider infection prevention and control response, alongside PPE, isolation protocols, safe water access, hygiene measures, community engagement, and clinical care.