Household Water Storage Management, Hygiene Practices, and Associated Drinking Water Quality in Rural India

Abstract

Household drinking water storage is commonly practiced in rural India. Fecal contamination may be introduced at the water source, during collection, storage, or access. Within a trial of a community-level water supply intervention, we conducted five quarterly household-level surveys to collect information about water, sanitation, and hygiene practices in rural India. In a random subsample of households, we tested stored drinking water samples for Escherichia coli, concurrently observing storage and access practices. We conducted 9961 surveys and collected 3296 stored water samples. Stored water samples were frequently contaminated with E. coli (69%), and E. coli levels were the highest during the wet season. Most households contributing two or more drinking water samples had detectable E. coli in some (47%) or all (44%) samples. Predictors of stored water contamination with E. coli included consumption of river water and open defecation; consumption of reverse osmosis-treated water and safe water access practices appeared to be protective. Until households can be reached with on-premises continuous safe water supplies, suboptimal household water storage practices are likely to continue. Improvements to source water quality alone are unlikely to prevent exposure to contaminated drinking water unless attention is also given to improving household water storage, access, and sanitation practices.

Co-Existence of Free-Living Amoebae and Potential Human Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated from Rural Household Water Storage Containers

“…Amoebae are found in biofilms due to their ability to strongly adhere to the sub-stratum through their large area of contact [ 12 ] and they are also able to graze on the bacterial biofilm [ 13 ]. The deterioration of stored water [ 14 , 15 ] and the formation of biofilms within water storage containers [ 9 , 16 , 17 ] have been investigated; many of these studies have been in low-income countries [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] but very few studies have been done in South Africa. In 2002, Momba and Kaleni [ 22 ] demonstrated the direct relationship between the material of the storage container, the quality of the intake water, and the degree of bacterial regrowth.…”

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Some Selected LGAs in Kaduna State, Northwestern Nigeria

“…KAP regarding WASH are contributing factors to waterborne disease prevalence in communities; poor WASH knowledge leads to unhygienic practices and poor attitudes which pollute water and spread illness [27,28]. Such inadequate WASH knowledge leads to wrong perception of quality of water resulting in large dependence on surface waters for drinking [14,29], open defection practices being perceived normal and commonly practiced, minimal household water purification practices to prevent diseases [30,31], and poor water collection and storage behaviors contaminating water and causing illnesses [32][33][34]. Household and environmental hygiene also tend to be poor, and children stool is often overlooked and perceived harmless in sanitation programs, hence increasing the risk of disease transmission [35][36][37], all due to limited WASH understanding and poor attitudes and practices towards WASH. erefore, there is a need to provide hygiene education programs and increased awareness towards promoting good WASH practices and ensuring good public health in the communities.…”

Determining consumption preferences of consumers considering quality attributes of drinking water

“…However, it could be exposed to significant problems through various storage and transport vehicles with various microbiological contaminations. Exploring these issues in detail, McGuinness et al (2020) highlighted that transportation methods with closed systems from safe water sources should be investigated instead of using transportation and storage vehicles to be able to prevent various microbiological contaminants.…”