Microbiological analysis of domestic water sources in Banda slum of Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

There is scarcity of information about the safety of water in Banda slum of Kampala, Uganda and yet reports indicate outbreaks of infectious diseases such as typhoid fever and cholera. The aim of this study was to determine the risk of exposure to waterborne infections by Banda residents due to faecal contamination of water sources. Four hundred respondents were sampled and interviewed on the methods of water collection, treatment and storage. Water samples were collected with sterile glass bottles in duplicate from the dug well, protected spring and piped water system in December 2018 on two different consecutive days. They were transported to the laboratory for total and faecal coliform count analysis within 2 h using a lightproof-insulated box containing ice-packs. The mean Escherichia coli count for the dug well was 43 ± 18 c.f.u/mL. The protected spring had no detectable E. coli, but its total plate count level was 76 ± 1.4 c.f.u/mL. Only 46% of the respondents treated their drinking water using boiling and filtering methods. Poor sanitation and hygiene practices were observed. The total and faecal coliform counts of water sources were unsatisfactory making Banda residents highly at risk of infectious diseases, given the small number of residents that treated water.

Tap versus Bottled Water in Kampala, Uganda: Analyses of Consumers’ Perception alongside Bacteriological and Physicochemical Quality

“…In other words, females were larger in number than males. Our findings are consistent the the results of another study [ 11 ] which was conducted for the same study area and indicated that the proportions of males and females sampled to determine perception of consumers regarding local water treatment were 36% and 64%, respectively. The study conducted by Qian [ 10 ] in three regions of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau also reported higher percentages of females than male.…”

“…This could be attributed to the fact that females interact more with water especially in doing domestics chores than men, hence giving females more information about the water qualities. For instance, 80% of the persons responsible for fetching water in the study area comprise women compared with children (15%) and men (05%) [ 11 ].…”

“…Whether one needs to drink tap or bottled water, the quality of the drinking water needs to always be ascertained. To assess the quality of water consumed in Uganda, several studies [ 7 , 11 – 14 ] have been conducted. These previous studies had a number of research gaps.…”

Value Chain Hygiene Practices and Microbial Contamination of Street and Market Vended Ready-to-Eat grasshopper, Ruspolia differens in Uganda: Implications for food safety and public health

“…However, a different study [23] also found that 64% of HHs were female-headed in Banda, a low-income, densely populated (slum) suburb of Kampala City. Notably, while Kampala and Masaka are in the Central Region of Uganda with Luganda as their native language, none of the respondents in Kampala reported Luganda as their native language, compared to 14/17 (82%) of the respondents in Masaka.…”

Assessment of Drinking Tap Water Quality in Wa Municipality, Ghana

“…Additionally, Niyoyitungiye et al (2020), observe that coliform organisms are also oxidase-negative and non-spore-forming and display β-galactosidase activity. Coliform bacteria should not be detectable in treated water supplies and, if found, suggest inadequate treatment, post-treatment contamination, or excessive nutrients (Daud et al, 2017;Isingoma and Stephen, 2021). Thus, the 0.00 MPN/100ml result obtained from the water sample for the three residential areas indicates that the GWCL's water treatment was efficient and that the distribution system was of high integrity.…”