Quality and safety of municipal drinking water in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background:In low resourced countries, water-associated diseases have still impact on public health. Poor quality of water can cause waterborne diseases through bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and parasites that has been responsible for millions of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, this study aimed to assess quality and safety of public municipal drinking water in Addis Ababa City. Methods: Descriptive epidemiological study design that used quantitative approach was carried out at Addis Ababa City Administration from June 2016 to October 2016. Pre-tested and standardized aseptic sample collection technique was utilized to collect a total of 2976 samples (2951 water samples for bacteriological analysis by Presence-Absence (P-A) culturing method and 25 samples for parasites identification through direct microscopy examination). Descriptive data were summarized and cleaned by the SPSS version 20 software and presented in table and graph. Results: The study revealed that 10%, 7% and 3% were positive for bacteriological, total coliforms, and fecal coliforms respectively through Presence-Absence Broth test. The bacterial distribution trends from 1st to 13th weeks of wet season were slight increment of total coliforms and slight decrement for fecal coliforms. All tested for parasitological samples from selected reservoirs were free from parasitological species. Conclusion: This study reflects that there were positive for bacterial, total coliforms, and fecal coliforms during the study period. It needs continuous screening and treating water sources to utmost important for prevention and control waterborne disease.

Efficiency of Treatment Plant and Drinking Water Quality Assessment from Source to Household, Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Statistically significant difference was observed among the water samples collected from different sampling points ( p < 0.05). The pH values in tap water obtained in this study are lower than the results of previous studies (7.12) at Jimma town [ 11 ] and (7.6) at Akaki Kality subcity, Addis Ababa [ 10 ]. The variation might be due to natural geological conditions and minerals found in the local rock of the water sources [ 18 ].…”

“…However, the turbidity value of tap water (5.15 NTU) in this study did not comply with WHO standard (<5 NTU). This might be due to the fact that the sampling period was in rainy season that can be crossly contaminated with runoffs [ 10 , 11 ]. Water with high turbidity affects treatment plant system with reduction of the bacteriological removal and chemical consumption since high levels of turbidity may make it difficult to be disinfected appropriately [ 23 ].…”

“…Most of population live in low-income countries suffers from health problems associated with lack of drinking water and contaminated water sources with microorganism [ 9 ]. Nowadays, water sources are being polluted largely by agricultural practice and industrial chemical waste disposals due to cross contamination with sewerage, illegal connections, leakages, and corrosions [ 3 , 10 ].…”

“…Although there was some routine quality assessment in tap water sources of major urban towns of Ethiopia, little attention is being given to drinking water quality issues and quantity by water supply agencies. In the country, there is a lack of drinking water quality surveillance and monitoring programmes [ 10 , 11 ]. Despite the alarming rate of water pollution and the huge disease burden associated with unsafe water supply, very little effort has been put to investigate the efficiency of existing water treatment systems and drinking water quality in low-income countries.…”

A Qualitative Analysis of Factors Influencing Household Water Treatment Practices Among Consumers of Self-Supplied Water in Rural Ethiopia

“… 4 In Ethiopia, a legally binding drinking water quality standard was established by the National Quality and Standards Authority in 2001. 5 This Act mandates drinking water suppliers to monitor drinking water; enforce a water protection plan, and take all practical measures to ensure safe water supply.…”