Disinfecting drinking water has been a perineal problem of the community. Spring water has been their usual source for drinking water, but their potability has been put to question because of contamination with fecal sources either from man of from animal sources. SODIS (Solar Disinfection) strategy has been introduced as a cost-effective practical way of ensuring potability of water derived from spring well. Convincing community people to shift from traditional ways to secure their drinking water is easier said than done. The aim of the study was to determine the effectivity of comic book in the promotion of Solar Disinfection as an alternative method of water disinfection among selected households of Barangay Poblacion, Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay Province. The comic book was personally conceptualized by the researcher. Contents included a short story of a family with a typical case of diarrhea due to contaminated water source. Other methods of water disinfection were mentioned but the discussion focused mainly on the promotion of SODIS. The study utilized a pre and post interventional design. Three surveys results were obtained, pre-intervention survey, 3 months after intervention, and five months after intervention. A two-page questionnaire was used in the study. Fifty-four (54) households were selected as respondents. These households get their drinking water from deep well sources which were previously known to be contaminated with Coliform microorganism. On the pre-intervention survey, the comic book was given right after the respondents answered the questionnaire. Results of the survey on water disinfection showed that 77.8% of the households did not disinfect their drinking water, only 22.2% practiced boiling and no household practiced SODIS. At the end of the intervention, 13 or 24.1% of the households adopted SODIS as their method of water disinfection. Analysis of data using Chi-square showed significant increase in the utilization rate of SODIS. Using a t-test statistical analysis on knowledge, the results showed that there was a significant increase in the average scores of the respondents from pre-intervention to 3 months and 5 months after the post-interventions. Therefore, comic book as a promotional tool for water disinfection is effective in increasing the utilization rate of households to water solar disinfection method.

Keyword: comic book water disinfection promotion solar disinfection titay zamboanga Sibugay Province