Contamination of drinking water between source and point-of-use in rural households of South Africa and Zimbabwe: implications for monitoring the Millennium Development Goal for water

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W. Gundry ◽  
James A. Wright ◽  
Ronan Conroy ◽  
Martella Du Preez ◽  
Bettina Genthe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Millennium Development Goal ◽  
Significant Deterioration ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Quality Of Water

Aims: To assess contamination of drinking water in rural Zimbabwe and South Africa Methods: We conducted a cohort study of 254 children aged 12-24 months in rural South Africa and Zimbabwe. In dry and wet seasons, we measured water quality, using the indicator organism E. coli, at improved and unimproved sources, in household storage and drinking cups. We also recorded hygiene and socio-economic factors for each household. Results: For improved sources, samples with E. coli counts less than 10 cfu/100ml were as follows: at source: 165 (88%); in household storage 137 (59%); in drinking cups 91 (49%). The corresponding values for unimproved sources were: source 47 (29%); household storage 32 (19%); drinking cups 21 (18%). This significant deterioration in microbial quality of water from improved sources was seen in both countries and both survey rounds. Conclusion: Although improved sources generally delivered ‘safe’ water at the point-of-supply, 12% of source samples were contaminated and as such were ‘unsafe’. Furthermore, in household storage, more than 40% of samples were ‘unsafe’. For monitoring the Millennium Development Goal for water, UNICEF-WHO are assuming an equivalence between ‘improved’ sources and ‘safe’ water. Our findings suggest that this equivalence may be unsound.

scholarly journals Assessment of bacteriological quality of drinking water from various sources in Amritsar district of northern India

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (08) ◽  
pp. 844-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sita Malhotra ◽  
Shailpreet K Sidhu ◽  
Pushpa Devi
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Bacteriological Quality ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level

Introduction: Safe water is a precondition for health and development and is a basic human right, yet it is still denied to hundreds of millions of people throughout the developing world. Water-related diseases caused by insufficient safe water supplies, coupled with poor sanitation and hygiene, cause 3.4 million deaths a year, mostly in children. Methodology: The present study was conducted on 1,317 drinking water samples from various water sources in Amritsar district in northern India. All the samples were analyzed to assess bacteriological quality of water for presumptive coliform count by the multiple tube test. Results: A total of 42.9% (565/1,317) samples from various sources were found to be unfit for human consumption. Of the total 565 unsatisfactory samples, 253 were from submersible pumps, 197 were from taps of piped supply (domestic/public), 79 were from hand pumps, and 36 were from various other sources A significantly high level of contamination was observed in samples collected from submersible pumps (47.6%) and water tanks (47.3%), as these sources of water are more exposed and liable to contamination. Conclusions: Despite continuous efforts by the government, civil society, and the international community, over a billion people still do not have access to improved water resources. Bacteriological assessment of all sources of drinking should be planned and conducted on regular basis to prevent waterborne dissemination of diseases.

scholarly journals Evaluation of a small scale water disinfection system using WFMF

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dorcas Enaji Alfa
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Treatment ◽  
River Water ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Woven Fabric ◽  
Residual Chlorine ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
Rural Water

Provision of microbiologically safe drinking water for people living in the rural areas of developing countries remains a major challenge to date. One of the reasons is due to the inability to access potable water mainly because of poor existing water purification systems. Current measures have been put in place to address the challenges of rural water supply. Development of appropriate technologies such as decentralized water treatment supply in the form of point of use (POU) systems are been considered. In lieu of the above, an appropriate POU system known as the Remote Rural Water Treatment System (RRWTS) was developed at Durban University of Technology (DUT). The RRWTS is polyester based locally sourced Woven Fabric Microfiltration (WFMF) membrane system. The unit is made up of flat sheet modules that are assembled into a pack. It is a robust gravity driven system with the ability to remove suspended solids and colloids in the form of turbidity. The system has high flux of 35 ± 7 LMH and turbidity below 1 NTU, it has the ability to remove pathogens well above 95%. However, this does not comply with WHO and SANS drinking water standards of zero E. coli count/100 ml of treated water. In order to bring the water treated by RRWTS to a satisfactory level for drinking, it is then necessary to add a separate disinfection step like chlorination step to further remove the remaining microbial contaminants. Thus the main objective of the study was to evaluate the disinfection efficacy of two disinfectants namely waterguard and bromochlor tablet disinfectants and investigate their integration with the WFMF membrane. The study was categorised into three parts. The first part is the addition of disinfectants to unfiltered river water sources for the determination of residual chlorine and the most optimum dose that will yield effective disinfection and also evaluate the extent of E. coli removal by the disinfectants. The second stage was the filtration of four river water sources using the woven fibre membrane (WFM) to determine the efficiency of WFMF. Finally the effect of disinfection kinetics on disinfection was achieved by agitating the water after disinfection and allowing it to stand at different contact times. Performance of the RRWTS was determined by the amount of E. coli and turbidity removed during filtration using WFMF and by chemical disinfectants after filtration. The results on residual chlorine for different water sources showed that feed quality and disinfectant dose determines the quantity of residual chlorine on all the water sources. The effectiveness of chemical disinfectants in E. coli removal is affected by the quality of water to be disinfected. The study showed that turbidity plays a major role on disinfection by increasing chlorine demand on water sources with high turbidity levels. The WFMF demonstrated excellent filtration performance by producing permeates with turbidity less than 1 NTU for feed turbidities ranging from 10 to 200 NTU. The E. coli removal efficiency by WFMF was very high on all the water sources treated. There was 95-99.8% E. coli removal on raw feeds with influent E. coli ranging between 500 and 44500 CFU/100 ml. It was seen that major benefits are derived from integrating the WFMF (RRWTS) with chemical disinfection. The benefits includes; better disinfection that meets drinking water set guidelines of zero E. coli and improved quality of water. The need for disinfection kinetics in order to obtain superior disinfection was eliminated. The possibility of disinfection-by-product formation was reduced as smaller quantities of chemical disinfectants were required for complete disinfection on the filtered water.

scholarly journals Microbiological and Biochemical Contamination Analysis of Refilled Drinking-water in Abeli, Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-9
Author(s):  
Juminten Saimin ◽  
Hartati Hartati ◽  
Yenti Purnamasari ◽  
Sufiah Asri Mulyawati ◽  
Tien Tien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Klebsiella Oxytoca ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Microbiological Test ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
Water Catchment ◽  
Drinking Water Samples

BACKGROUND: The access to safe drinkingwater is increasingly difficult, especially in water catchment or coastal areas. Due to the difficulty, people in coastal areas tend to consume ready-to-use refilled drinking-water. However, the sanitation facilities on most drinking-water refill depots do not meet the requirements, hence really prone to microbial contamination. We conducted this study to determine the types of bacteria causing the contamination of refilled drinking-water from refill depots in Abeli, a coastal area in Kendari.METHODS: Samples were collected from all 6 drinkingwater refill depots in Abeli. Three-series fermentation tubes were used for the microbiological test, including the presumptive, confirmative and completed tests. The biochemical test was performed with indole test, methyl red test, Voges-Proskauer test, and citrate utilization test (IMViC) methods and the triple sugar iron agar (TSIA) test.RESULTS: Among 6 refilled drinking-water samples, we found the growth of coliform bacterial colonies in 3 samples, exhibiting various characteristics. Based on the characteristics, both microbiological and biochemical, the identified bacteria were Proteus sp., Escherichia coli and Klebsiella oxytoca.CONCLUSION: Bacteria that contaminated refilled drinking-water in Abeli were Proteus sp., E. coli and K. oxytoca. Continuous supervision is required to ensure the quality of water from drinking-water refill depots.KEYWORDS: bacteria, Proteus sp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, coastal areas, refilled drinking water

scholarly journals Away-from-home drinking water consumption practices and the microbiological quality of water consumed in rural western Kenya

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Onyango-Ouma ◽  
Charles P. Gerba
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Microbiological Quality ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
Consumption Practices

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to examine away-from-home drinking water consumption practices and the microbiological quality of water consumed in rural western Kenya. The study involved adults and schoolchildren. Data were collected using focus group discussions, questionnaire survey, observations, diaries and interviews. The findings suggest that away-from-home drinking water consumption is a common practice in the study area; however, the microbiological quality of the water consumed is poor. While some respondents perceive the water to be safe for drinking mainly because of the clear colour of the water, others are forced by circumstances to drink the water as it is owing to a lack of alternative safe sources. It is concluded that there is a need for new innovative approaches to address away-from-home drinking water consumption in resource-poor settings in order to complement and maximize the benefits of point-of-use water treatment at the household level.

Bacteriological quality of drinking water at point of use and hand hygiene of primary food preparers: implications for household food safety

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-230
Author(s):  
S. G. D. N. Lakshmi Reddi ◽  
R. Naveen Kumar ◽  
G. M. SubbaRao ◽  
M. Vishnu Vardhana Rao ◽  
R. V. Sudershan
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Faecal Coliforms ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Drinking Water Samples

Quality of water for consumption and food processing activities is universally accepted as an essential component to ensure food safety at household (HH) level. Along with safe water, hand hygiene is also an important factor for reducing diarrheal illnesses. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in rural and urban HHs to detect hygiene indicators in drinking water samples at point of use (PoU) (n = 150) and their association with the hand hygiene of primary food preparers (n = 150). Overall, 24.7% and 9.3% of drinking water samples (PoU), 48% and 20% of hand rinse samples were contaminated by faecal coliforms and E. coli, respectively. Both drinking water (PoU) and hand rinse samples collected from rural HHs showed higher contamination, followed by those from urban slums and low income HHs. Significant association (p < 0.05) and probable risk with faecal coliforms (OR. 2.5; 95% CI: 1.1–5.4) and E. coli (OR. 14.5; 95% CI: 4.1–50.7) was found between hand rinses and drinking water samples that had bacteriological contamination. These results suggest that there was an extensive cross contamination at HH level. So, targeted education is essential on safe food/water handling practices in HHs to prevent food safety risks.

Does improved access to water supply by rural households enhance the concept of safe water at the point of use? A case study from deep rural South Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Jagals
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Water Source ◽  
Supply Source ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related

The concept of safe water is defined by three principles: the health-related quality must be suitable, the supply/source must be accessible and the water must constantly be available in quantities sufficient for the intended use. If any one (or more) of these three elements is missing from a water services improvement programme, providing safe water is not successfully achieved. A study in a deep rural area in South Africa showed that providing small communities, using untreated river water as their only water source, with good quality water through a piped distribution system and accessible at communal taps did not fall within our parameters of safe water. The parameters for measuring the three principles were: absence of Escherichia coli in drinking water samples; accessibility by improving tap distances to within 200 m from each household; availability by assessing whether households have at least 25 L per person per day. Results show that although E. coli levels were reduced significantly, households were still consuming water with E. coli numbers at non-compliant levels. Access (distance) was improved from an average of 750 m from households to river source to an average of 120 m to new on-tap source points. This did not result in significant increases in household quantities, which on average remained around 18 L per person per day.

scholarly journals Kajian Laik Fisik Sanitasi Dan Kualitas Mikrobiologis Depot Air Minum (DAM) Dibawah Program Pembinaan Dan Pengawasan Dinas Kesehatan Kabupaten Hulu Sungai Utara

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Rosmiaty Rosmiaty ◽  
Andy Mizwar ◽  
Rizmi Yunita ◽  
Erma Agusliani
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Source ◽  
Statistical Test ◽  
Drinking Water Source ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Office Development

Determining category of physical appropriateness of DWS under health office development and controlling program of Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, Determining Microbiology quality of  DWA under health office development and controlling program of Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, analyzing the correlation of physical appropriateness and microbiology quality if DWS under health office development and controlling program of Hulu Sungai Utara Regency. This is a quantitative study using cross-sectional research design in which the research was conducted in a certain period of time, the location of research was in 10 service area of the public health center in 9 subdistricts under health office development and controlling program of Hulu Sungai Utara Regency. It was found that 30 DWS (Drinking Water Storehouse) is under health office development and controlling program of Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, DWS which categorized as physically not Appropriate (TLF) was 20 DWS (66,7%) and categorized as physically appropriate (LF) was 10 DWS (33,3%). Microbiology quality of Balangan, Tabalong, Negara, Tangkawang and Rantau Bujur Darat River were excess the standard of quality of class I intended for the drinking water source. Microbiology quality of water source (PDAM) from 30 samples, it was found that 14 samples (46,7%) contained Coliform and E. coli, there were 2 samples (6,7%) contained only Coliform. Quality of microbiology and water product of  30 DWS, it was found that 2 DWS contained Coliform, all water of DWS production did not contain  E.coli. Statistical test of the correlation of physical appropriateness and microbiology quality of river water cannot be conducted because all samples have the same category which is TMS so that there was no difference in result data of category determination. There was no significant difference between physical appropriateness with microbiology quality of Coliform (p=0,260) and E.coli (p = 0,235) raw water of DWS. There was no significant correlation of physical appropriateness with microbiology quality of Coliform (p = 0,540) water product of DWS, meanwhile for statistical test for correlation of physical appropriateness and microbiology quality of E.coli of water product cannot be conducted because there was no difference in result data of category determination so that all samples has the same category.

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