Community and household determinants of water quality in coastal Ghana

Abstract

Associations between water sources, socio-demographic characteristics and household drinking water quality are described in a representative sample of six coastal districts of Ghana’s Central Region. Thirty-six enumeration areas (EAs) were randomly chosen from a representative survey of 90 EAs in rural, semi-urban and urban residence strata. In each EA, 24 households were randomly chosen for water quality sampling and socio-demographic interview. Escherichia coli per 100 ml H2O was quantified using the IDEXX Colilert® system and multi-stage regression models estimated cross-sectional associations between water sources, sanitation and socio-demographic factors. Almost three quarters, 74%, of the households have > 2 E. coli /100 ml H2O. Tap water has significantly lower E. coli levels compared with surface or rainwater and well water had the highest levels. Households with a water closet toilet have significantly lower E. coli compared with those using pit latrines or no toilets. Household size is positively associated, and a possessions index is negatively associated, with E. coli. Variations in community and household socio-demographic and behavioural factors are key determinants of drinking water quality. These factors should be included in planning health education associated with investments in water systems.

Sachet Water Quality and Brand Reputation in Two Low-Income Urban Communities in Greater Accra, Ghana

“…29 A 2004 study in six coastal districts of the Central Region of Ghana found that household use of bottled and sachet water (analyzed as a single category) was protective against finding EC in household drinking water relative to all other sources. 30 These results diverge from most of the sachet quality literature and underscore the variation in sachet water quality that we are attempting to sort out. As stated earlier, our sample should not be generalized to all sachet water, nor to the specific brands named, but rather is representative of consumer options on a random day in the rainy season.…”

Hepatitis E Virus and Person‐to‐Person Transmission

“…However, the former group lived in larger households than did the latter group. Household size is well known to be associated with socioeconomic status, standard of living, health-related behavior, and the health of its members [4,5]. Thus, it is quite possible that the differences observed between the 2 groups were related to a confounding effect of household size.…”

When urban taps run dry: Sachet water consumption and health effects in low income neighborhoods of Accra, Ghana

“…There has been little study of how privatized, packaged water such as sachets is changing the need for and attention to safe storage practices. The health benefits of safe storage and higher-quality drinking water are well known (Clasen and Cairncross, 2004; Wright et al, 2004), as are socio-demographic and behavioral correlates of water quality (McGarvey et al, 2008) and child diarrhea (Boadi and Kuitunen, 2005) in Ghana, but the mass shift toward packaged ready-to-drink water may effectively eliminate storage and cross-contamination risks. This potential unintended consequence has been ignored by policy experts, as the word sachet itself does not appear in the United Nations' recent 440-page Human Development Report focusing on global water crises (United Nations Development Programme, 2006).…”