The purpose of this study was to develop ceramic water filters at laboratory scale and evaluate theirrnperformance with respect to flow rate, turbidity reduction and bacterial removal efficiency fromrncontaminated water sources. Ceramic pot filters for household drinking water treatment wererndeveloped at laboratory scale from locally available materials. The filters were developed by mixingrnclay, grog and wood sawdust by varying the proportion of clay to sawdust. The volume ratios of clayrnto sawdust used were 50:50, 53C:47, 55:45, 60:40 and 65:35. These ratios were mixed dryrnthoroughly and then mixed with water to prepare wet mix. The prepared wet mix of clay and sawdustrnwas pressed in a pot shaped container to the final shape, dried and fired at 600 oC for six hours in arnfurnace. The capacity of each of the filters was approximately 300 ml. The developed ceramic waterrnfilters were tested for their performance with respect to flow rate, turbidity reduction and bacterialrnremoval efficiencies. The flow rates of the 50:50, 53:47, 55:45, 60:40 and 65:35 filters were 12 ml/hr,rn8 ml/hr, 6 ml/hr, 3 ml/hr and 2 ml/hr respectively, when the water level was maintained at itsrnmaximum height. All the filters reduced turbidity to less than 5 NTU. Indicator bacteria (totalrncoliform and fecal coliform) were used to quantify bacterial removal efficiencies of the developedrnceramic water filters. The filters removed more than 98% of the total coliform and 100% of the fecalrncoliform indicator bacteria from contaminated water sources. Ceramic water filter development is arncandidate technology and system for Ethiopia. Hence, the information compiled in this thesisrnprovides a basis for future work. Therefore, further investigation and scaling up of the ceramic waterrnfilter is of greatest importance for providing microbiologically improved household drinking water tornprevent and control waterborne bacterial diseases.