scholarly journals Assessing the Impact of a Risk-Based Intervention on Piped Water Quality in Rural Communities: The Case of Mid-Western Nepal

Author(s):  
Dorian Tosi Robinson ◽  
Ariane Schertenleib ◽  
Bal Kunwar ◽  
Rubika Shrestha ◽  
Madan Bhatta ◽  
...  

Ensuring universal access to safe drinking water is a global challenge, especially in rural areas. This research aimed to assess the effectiveness of a risk-based strategy to improve drinking water safety for five gravity-fed piped schemes in rural communities of the Mid-Western Region of Nepal. The strategy was based on establishing community-led monitoring of the microbial water quality and the sanitary status of the schemes. The interventions examined included field-robust laboratories, centralized data management, targeted infrastructure improvements, household hygiene and filter promotion, and community training. The results indicate a statistically significant improvement in the microbial water quality eight months after intervention implementation, with the share of taps and household stored water containers meeting the international guidelines increasing from 7% to 50% and from 17% to 53%, respectively. At the study endline, all taps had a concentration of <10 CFU Escherichia coli/100 mL. These water quality improvements were driven by scheme-level chlorination, improved hygiene behavior, and the universal uptake of household water treatment. Sanitary inspection tools did not predict microbial water quality and, alone, are not sufficient for decision making. Implementation of this risk-based water safety strategy in remote rural communities can support efforts towards achieving universal water safety.

Author(s):  
D. Daniel ◽  
Arnt Diener ◽  
Jack van de Vossenberg ◽  
Madan Bhatta ◽  
Sara J. Marks

Accurate assessments of drinking water quality, household hygenic practices, and the mindset of the consumers are critical for developing effective water intervention strategies. This paper presents a microbial quality assessment of 512 samples from household water storage containers and 167 samples from points of collection (POC) in remote rural communities in the hilly area of western Nepal. We found that 81% of the stored drinking water samples (mean log10 of all samples = 1.16 colony-forming units (CFU)/100 mL, standard deviation (SD) = 0.84) and 68% of the POC samples (mean log10 of all samples = 0.57 CFU/100 mL, SD = 0.86) had detectable E. coli. The quality of stored water was significantly correlated with the quality at the POC, with the majority (63%) of paired samples showing a deterioration in quality post-collection. Locally applied household water treatment (HWT) methods did not effectively improve microbial water quality. Among all household sanitary inspection questions, only the presence of livestock near the water storage container was significantly correlated with its microbial contamination. Households’ perceptions of their drinking water quality were mostly influenced by the water’s visual appearance, and these perceptions in general motivated their use of HWT. Improving water quality within the distribution network and promoting safer water handling practices are proposed to reduce the health risk due to consumption of contaminated water in this setting.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-269
Author(s):  
Ai Yue ◽  
Yaojiang Shi ◽  
Renfu Luo ◽  
Linxiu Zhang ◽  
Natalie Johnson ◽  
...  

Purpose Although access to safe drinking water is one of the most important health-related infrastructure programs in the world, drinking water remains a large problem in China today, especially in rural areas. Despite increased government investment in water resource protection and management, there is still an absence of academic studies that are able to document what path the investment has taken and whether it has had any tangible impact. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of drinking water investment on drinking water in China. Design/methodology/approach The authors make use of nationally representative data from 2005 and 2012 to measure the impact of drinking water investment among 2,028 rural households in 101 villages across five provinces. Both ordinary least squares regression and probit regression are used to analyze the correlates and the impact of drinking water investment. Findings The authors demonstrate that water quality was likely a significant problem in 2004 but that China’s investment into drinking water appears to have resulted in initial improvements during the study period. The authors show that the most significant change came about in terms of hardware: villages that received more drinking water investment now have more piped tap water and more access to water treatment infrastructure (disinfecting and filtering facilities). High rates of rural resident satisfaction with drinking water suggest the effects of drinking water investment are being felt at the village level. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study on drinking water investment over time in rural China using nationally representative data.


Author(s):  
Shane Htet Ko ◽  
Hiroshi Sakai

Abstract Myanmar is an agriculture-based country with 70% of the total population residing in rural areas. Around half of the total population in Myanmar has to consume water from unimproved sources. The prevalence of diarrhea due to contaminated drinking water is high even in urban areas. The urban community may expect the provision of municipal water supply in the near future if the current revolution in the country succeeds. However, the rural areas have lesser or no chance to get quality water because of a lot of other prioritized tasks. Household water treatment is encouraged to be implemented as one of the national water safety plans for rural water supply in Myanmar. This study explored the diarrhea prevention awareness of the rural community using a questionnaire survey. The microbial quality parameters of drinking water sources were also examined. Fecal coliform contamination was detected in all examined drinking water sources. A significant association was found between drinking untreated water and the occurrence of diarrhea. The percentage of people who applied the diarrhea preventive measures was low. Even if they knew how to prevent the disease, very few people applied the measures in reality. Therefore, measures to cause behavioral change should be initiated, together with awareness raising, to promote diarrhea prevention in the community.


Author(s):  
Dung A. Dao ◽  
Son H. Tran ◽  
Huyen T. T. Dang ◽  
Viet-Anh Nguyen ◽  
Viet Anh Nguyen ◽  
...  

Abstract In many areas of the world, rainwater has been collected and consumed by people. Our research aims to assess the use of rainwater and the impact of operation and maintenance activities of the rainwater system on drinking water quality in rural areas where there is no access to a public drinking water system. Through the questionnaire, direct visits, interviews and sampling of water at surveyed households (HHs), it was found that 100 and 98% of surveyed HHs used rainwater for drinking and cooking, respectively. Nearly, 80% of them were aware of the necessity of frequent reservoir cleaning as well as first-flush removal. Cleaning the water reservoir had a significant impact on water quality, in particular the total dissolved solids (p-value &lt; 0.05). The use of strainers and more frequency of cleaning the catchment roofs and gutters would make the lower turbidity in water. However, the use of strainers would reduce the dissolution of oxygen in the reservoirs. A recommendation on the frequency of maintaining the rainwater harvesting systems was proposed after assessment of the operation and maintenance behaviors at surveyed HHs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 94-96 ◽  
pp. 706-709
Author(s):  
Zhen Hua Liu

In the process of solving rural drinking water safety,there are some problems need to attach great importance. Evaluation index system of rural drinking water safety includes water quality, quantity, convenience, and dependability. Figure 1 shows that Polluted water is the main reason of unsafe drinking water quality, 40.9% of unsafe drinking water quality, 28.8% of unsafe drinking water. Figure 2 shows that basically the discharge of waste water each year from 1998 to 2009 is increasing, the total discharge of waste water across China from 1997 to 2009 reached to 621.945 billion t. Table 2 shows that national industrial solid waste generation and utilization is increasing,but discharge decreasing, industrial solid waste, directly or indirectly polluted water environment, especially rural drinking water sources. The paper draws a conclusion that there are some problems of rural drinking water such as rural unsafe drinking water quality, lack of laws and regulations and effective management, serious rural water pollution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 203-225
Author(s):  
Mohsin Khan ◽  
Jetnor Kasmi ◽  
Abdul Saboor ◽  
Iftikhar Ali

Often the government and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are criticised for their poor performances in delivering services particularly in rural areas. However, there has been limited research on the assessment of their relative performances in service delivery as well as on the perceptions of people on the quality of such service delivery. This study examines the relative performances of NGOs and the governmental development interventions that provide basic services including public health, education, drinking water and sanitation. The study explains the impact of agricultural extension services and infrastructure such as access to roads and markets on the rural people and measures the satisfaction level of the rural community. For this purpose, 225 households (HHs) in 8 villages of Phalia Tehsil, district Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, Pakistan were first surveyed in 2010 and then in 2014 using a structured questionnaire. The findings reveal different satisfaction levels of HHs, with most of them expressing less satisfaction on government service delivery compared with NGOs. They reveal satisfaction over the performance of NGOs in health, drinking water supplies and agriculture extension services. Further, the study shows an increasing satisfaction of people on access to road, transport, agri-market and price of agri-commodities by the government.


Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Regina Böger ◽  
Karl Rohn ◽  
Nicole Kemper ◽  
Jochen Schulz

Poor drinking water quality can affect pigs’ health and performance. The disinfection of water may enhance microbial water quality. In this study, bacteria and endotoxins in sodium hypochlorite-treated and -untreated water from one pig nursery were analyzed. Water samples were taken from incoming water and from compartments with treated and untreated water at the beginning and end of pipes and from nipples. The farm was visited 14 times to measure total bacteria counts and concentrations of Pseudomonas spp. and endotoxins. Additionally, the occurrence of coliform bacteria was analyzed. A mixed model analysis revealed significant reductions in total bacteria counts and Pseudomonas spp. in treated water at the beginning of pipes and at nipple drinkers. The differences between bacteria concentrations at the end of pipes had no clear trend. Endotoxin concentrations were approximately equal at the beginning of pipes and at nipple drinkers but were found to have differences at the end of pipes. The occurrence of coliform bacteria was significantly reduced in treated water. The application of sodium hypochlorite can significantly reduce bacteria in water pipes. Endotoxin concentrations were mostly unaffected by water treatment. Disinfection of the dead-end pipe sections failed, and thus these parts should be regarded as potential contamination sources.


2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Graff Zivin ◽  
Matthew Neidell ◽  
Wolfram Schlenker

We examine the impact of poor water quality on avoidance behavior by estimating the change in bottled water purchases in response to drinking water violations. Using data from a national grocery chain matched with water quality violations, we find an increase in bottled water sales of 22 percent from violations due to microorganisms and 17 percent from violations due to elements and chemicals. Back-of-the envelope calculations yield costs of avoidance behavior at roughly $60 million for all nationwide violations in 2005, which likely reflects a significant understatement of the total willingness to pay to eliminate violations.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-53

The survey on malabsorption of food in rural communities of Guatemala indicated that the experimental introduction of drinking water in a community resulted in a definite decline in the incidence of diarrhoea in children from 3 to 7 years of age. Longitudinal evaluation of the capacity of healthy men to absorb d-xylose revealed malabsorption in 30% of individuals living under poor sanitation conditions, as compared with 9% among those living under sanitation conditions which were better than those in rural areas. A definite improvement in d-xylose absorption was observed in the community where drinking water was introduced. Findings of longitudinal studies on intestinal absorption indicated that between 50 and 60 per cent of all the adult men were losing about 350 calories per day, a loss which, expressed in economic terms, is equivalent to 5-7 per cent of the cash cost of the diet.


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