AUTHOR=Berihun Gete , Abebe Masresha , Hassen Seada , Gizeyatu Adinew , Berhanu Leykun , Teshome Daniel , Walle Zebader , Desye Belay , Sewunet Birhanu , Keleb Awoke 

TITLE=Drinking water contamination potential and associated factors among households with under-five children in rural areas of Dessie Zuria District, Northeast Ethiopia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1199314

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1199314

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Objective: Globally, about 700 million people lacks access to safe water supply, more than half of them live in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia. Globally, approximately 2 billion people use contaminated drinking water sources that are contaminated with faecal matter. But the association of faecal coliforms and determinant factor is not well studied. This study aimed to assess the contamination potential of drinking water and associated factors among households with under-five children in the Dessie Zuria district, Northeast Ethiopia  
Methods: Water quality assessment was done based on the American Public Health Association guideline for water and wastewater assessment using membrane filtration technique. A structured and pretested questionnaire was used to assess water handling practices and the most probable number method was used to determine faecal coliforms in 412 households. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with the presence or absence of faecal coliform in drinking water, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and a p-value ≤0.05. The overall goodness of the model was tested using Hosmer and Lemeshow test. 
Results:  Generally, 241 (58.5%) households used unimproved water supply sources. In addition, 272 (66.0%) of the water samples were positive for faecal coliform bacteria. Water storage duration ≥ 3 days (AOR =4.632; 95% CI: 1.529-14.034), dipping method of water withdrawal from a water storage container (AOR =4.377; 95% CI: 1.382-7.171), uncovered water storage container during inspection (AOR =5.700; 95% CI: 2.017-31.189), lack of home-based water treatment (AOR =4.822; 95% CI: 1.730 -13.442), and unsafe household liquid waste disposal methods (AOR =3.066; 95% CI: 1.706-8.735) were factors significantly associated with the presence of faecal contamination in drinking water. 
Conclusion: The faecal contamination of the water was high. The duration of water storage, the method of water withdrawal from the storage container, the cover of the storage container, the presence of home-based water treatment, and the method of liquid waste disposal were factors of faecal contamination in drinking water. Health professionals should conduct ongoing education on water handling practices and quality assessment.