Adoption of good hygiene and sanitation practices is a major determining factor in household well-being and development of community members. In this study, the influence of socio-demographic factors on household hygiene and sanitation behaviour was assessed using interviews. The results revealed that 68% of households did not cover their containers during the transport of water; 58% of respondents defecated in water and 31% in the open air.Only 40% of households washed their hands with water and soap after defecation; 42% of respondents discharged their wastes into the water body while 34% discharged them into the natural environment; 49% of the respondents evacuated their wastewater into the water body while 51% preferred to pour them into the wild. Most of the practices of the populations were not conducive for ensuring healthy drinking water quality and preserving their

The present study assesses the physicochemical and bacteriological quality of the drinking water used by the population of Sô-Ava based on the Beninese standards and those established by the World Health Organization (WHO). In rural and peri-urban areas of Benin where public water supply systems are inadequate or almost non-existent, the population consumes water of various sources of unknown qualities. A total of 67 water samples were analyzed during the rainy season (July 2017) and in the dry season (January 2018) for certain physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters using the standard methods. The results of the analyses reveal that the physicochemical characteristics of the water used for consumption in Sô-Ava comply with the drinking water standards of the World Health Organization and those in force in Benin except for the percentages of the following parameters: pH (41.80%); turbidity (25.37%); the color (16.42); ammonium (17.91%); iron (40.30%); Nitrites (4.48%); Residual chlorine (91.05). Bacteriologically, the analyses showed a high total aerobic mesophilic flora contamination, faecal coliforms, E. coli, faecal enterococci respectively in 89.55%, 82.09%, 50.75% and 70.15% of the analyzed water samples. The ratio of faecal coliforms to faecal enterococci indicated that the origin of faecal contamination was human in 59.7% of the samples and animal in 40.3% of the samples. The adoption of hygiene measures at the water point, during the transport and storage of water, including the treatment by chlorination of drinking water at the family level was recommended for the population concerned

The adoption of good practices in access to water, hygiene and sanitation is very important for the well-being and socio-economic development of any community. The objective of the study was to evaluate the knowledge and practices that households adopt regarding water supply, hygiene and sanitation. For this, a survey was conducted among 386 households in the seven districts of the commune of Sô-Ava. The data collected was analyzed using the XLSTAT 17 software and the Excel Spreadsheet. The results obtained show that in the commune of Sô-Ava, drilling is the most used water source and that nearly 66.33% of households do not cover their containers during the transport of water with a rate that varies from 2.85 to 25.39% from one borough to another. Sô-Ava is the district that has the highest number of latrines is that with a rate of 3.11%. In addition, most households dispose of their garbage and wastewater either in the wild or in the water body in the absence of a waste collection system. The low level of hygiene and sanitation observed could affect the quality of drinking water and hence the health of the population.