Bacteriological Quality of Drinking Water and Associated Factors among Haramaya District Communities, Oromia Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Both adequacy and quality of drinking water are equally important to reduce the occurrence of water-related health problems. Water contaminated by microbes remains a challenge and are the main reason for mortality and morbidity of human beings. Hence, the impact of water on health derives principally from the consumption of water containing pathogenic organisms. So far, there was no study conducted on bacteriological water analysis in Haramaya district. Therefore, this study was aim to assess bacteriological water quality to fill the gaps. Objective: This study was aim to determine bacteriological quality of drinking water and associated factors among Haramaya district communities, Eastern Ethiopia from July 2-12, 2018. Methods: Community based cross-sectional study was conduct on sample of 262 households and 40 water sources in six randomly selected kebeles. Stratified sampling method was used to randomly select two kebeles from midland, lowland and town strata. Data were collected by interviewer administered pre-tested questionnaire and bacteriological water quality analysis from sources and households analyzed by Membrane Filtration Technique using WAGTECH portable water testing kit. The collected data were entered into EpiData3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 20. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis were conducted. Odds ratio with 95 % Confidence Interval and p-value of <0.05 were computed to assess the presence and degree of statistical association. Result: Only 17%, 67%, 42% and 67% of drinking water from hand dug well, protected spring, shallow wells and tap water respectively were free of faecal contamination at source. Quality of water deteriorated along the water chain that only 5.6%, 0%, 3% and 9.4% of households that collect water from hand dug wells, protected spring, shallow wells and tap water respectively were free from fecal contamination at home. Those who attended grade 5-8 education [(AOR=0.05, 95% CI 0.004, 0.63, p <0.05)] and those above grade nine [(AOR=0.02, 95% CI 0.002, 0.23, p <0.001)] were less likely their water was contaminated. Those households who had latrine were [(AOR=0.023, 95%; CI: 0.004, 0.128; p <0.001)] less likely their water was contaminated at home. Households that had three under-five age children were [(AOR=11.4, 95%; CI: 2.19, 59.8; p <0.001)] and those have four under-five age children [(AOR=48, 95%; CI: 4.69, 497; p <0.001)] more likely their water was contaminated at home. Conclusion and recommendation: Majority water sources had poor bacteriological quality. Microbial contamination of water had increased from sources to household storage level. Inadequate protection of water sources, poor sanitation practices near the sources and unhygienic household water handling practices contributed to the deterioration of drinking water quality. District water and health offices need to viii take appropriate action on increasing awareness, access to safe water and latrine coverage of the community.