The Imo State (Nigeria) Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Project, 1. Description of the project, evaluation methods, and impact on intervening variables

Abstract

A health impact evaluation was conducted in conjunction with the Imo State Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Nigeria. The project consisted of a package of water supply, sanitation, and health and hygiene education given by village-based workers. The evaluation was a quasi-experimental study covering pre-, peri- and post-intervention periods. Data were collected from 3 intervention and 2 control villages. Baseline surveys indicated that the intervention and control areas were similar with respect to most socio-demographic variables. Use of the improved water supply was high, although this was influenced by borehole-to-population ratios and household-to-borehole distances. Water collection time was consequently greatly reduced. Data from a small sample of households showed that borehole water became heavily contaminated during collection and storage, and that there was no significant change in consumption of water per person. Adults in 46% of household units in the intervention area were using ventilated improved pit latrines by the end of the study period. Use by young children (2-5 years old), however, was low. Limitations in the success of the health education component of the project were found. Although changes were found in knowledge, attitudes and practices related to water and sanitation, and in management of childhood diarrhoea, this occurred in both the intervention and control areas.

Drinking water quality and solar disinfection: Effectiveness in peri-urban households in Nepal

“…In contrast to previous research (Blum et al 1990;Rijal et al 1998) the level of fecal contamination in water from the household containers was lower than from the drinking water sources, either wells or taps, indicating that there is no fresh contamination occurring in the households. The lower levels in the household may be due to natural die-off of bacteria over time, or due to bacterial properties of the brass containers that are used for drinking water storage in the home.…”

Microbial quality of drinking water from groundtanks and tankers at source and point-of-use in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa, and its relationship to health outcomes

“…Lack of proper hygiene practices, such as cleaning of drinking water storage vessels and dipping utensils used to remove drinking water from storage vessels, and washing of hands, as well as exposure of drinking water stored in open-top containers to dust and fomites has been shown to contribute to decreased microbial quality of drinking water, in this study as well as in the literature (Blum et al, 1990;Tuttle et al, 1995;Trevett et al, 2005;Onabulo et al, 2011).…”

The importance of domestic water quality management in the context of faecal–oral disease transmission

“…Furthermore, a high proportion of children were observed to collect and serve water, and it is reasonable to assume that children will take less care to avoid handwater contact. Several other studies have reported similar findings linking hand contact to water quality deterioration (Feachem et al 1978;Blum et al 1990;Pinfold 1990a;Hoque et al 1995;Roberts et al 2001). We asked women before/ after which activities they used soap to wash their hands in our Honduran research (Trevett 2003).…”

“…However, the strength or validity of these arguments is questionable. For example, the deterioration of drinking water quality between collection and consumption has been shown to be a common and widespread problem (Hammad & Dirar 1982;Blum et al 1990;Empereur-Bissonnet et al 1992;Swerdlow et al 1992;Kaltenthaler et al 1996;Genthe et al 1997;Hoque et al 1999;Roberts et al 2001;Trevett et al 2004). The epidemiological significance therefore may be much greater than previously believed.…”