Sanitary condition and its microbiological quality of improved water sources in the Southern Region of Ethiopia

In the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region of Ethiopia, improved water is the main source of water for household purposes. Access to improved water closer to their homes benefits the community in many ways. It improves their health status, saves their time and energy, and improves t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 192; no. 5; p. 319
Main Authors:	Alemayehu, Tsigereda Assefa, Weldetinsae, Abel, Dinssa, Daniel Abera, Derra, Firehiwot Abera, Bedada, Tesfaye Legese, Asefa, Yosef Beyene, Mengesha, Sisay Derso, Alemu, Zinabu Assefa, Serte, Melaku Gizaw, Teklu, Kirubel Tesfaye, Woldegabriel, Mesay Getachew, Kenea, Moa Abate, van den Berg, Harold, de Roda Husman, Ana Maria
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cham Springer International Publishing 30-04-2020 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Alternative energy Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution Canals Cattle manure Climate adaptation Correlation analysis Ditches Diversion ditches Drainage canals Drinking water Dung E coli Earth and Environmental Science Ecology Ecotoxicology Energy conservation Energy resources Energy sources Environment Environmental Management Environmental monitoring Environmental science Inspection Microorganisms Monitoring/Environmental Analysis Overflow Pathogens Risk levels Stagnant water Surveying Sustainable energy Water Water management Water quality Water sources Water treatment Ethiopia Risk priority matrix Enterococci E. coli
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Summary:	In the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region of Ethiopia, improved water is the main source of water for household purposes. Access to improved water closer to their homes benefits the community in many ways. It improves their health status, saves their time and energy, and improves their productivity in jobs and education they are engaged in. However, due to natural and human activities, improved water sources do not always deliver good quality of water. It can be contaminated by different pathogenic microorganisms and chemicals. The result indicated that 44.7% and 50.9% of the samples were contaminated with Escherichia coli and enterococci respectively, and from the sanitary condition survey, 57.6% of the water sources exhibited from intermediate- to very high-risk level. And the risk priority matrix identifies 95 (27.9%) samples with high risk and 54 (15.9%) of the samples with very high risk. The main risks identified at those unsafe water sources were that the drainage canals were blocked with mud, grass, leaves, and stones; animals drinking the overflow water and grazing in the proximity of water sources and feces such as cow dung were observed; inadequate protection of water sources such as absence of fences and diversion ditches; and stagnant water near the source. The study conducted in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region has clearly indicated that people may be at risk of being exposed to pathogens in half of the improved water sources when used for drinking based on the microbial indicator data or the sanitary inspection risk score. Though no correlation resulted from water quality and sanitary condition of sources, the risk priority matrix did enable prioritization of 54 very high-risk-level water sources for urgent targeted interventions from a total of 340 improved drinking water sources. From this, targeted interventions, improving water management practices, identifying and implementing effective water treatment options, providing sustainable energy sources for the supply of continuous water, and implementing climate resilience water safety planning, are recommended.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0167-6369 1573-2959
DOI:	10.1007/s10661-020-08297-z