Microbiological Assessment of the Quality of Drinking Water in Households of Abonnema Community

Abstract

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to identify the sources and assess the quality of drinking water in Abonnema Town of Rivers State, Nigeria. A semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire and field observation were used to obtain information from 374 respondents on main sources of drinking water, time is taken to collect water from these sources per round trip, availability of main water source, water treatment methods and the sanitary conditions around water sources.  A sample of water was collected from each of the six main water sources and analysed for bacteriological parameters. The most common source of drinking water was well water (42.8%), followed by a borehole (33.7%). Packaged water (bottled and sachet) were the least utilized (8.6%). The majority (87.7%) of the respondents affirmed the constant availability of their main drinking water source and only a small proportion (8.6%) of the respondents spent more than 30 minutes in getting water per round trip. Only a small proportion (12.3%) of respondents practised water treatment. All the wells were in a poor sanitary state. All the samples had total coliform counts above the WHO standard of 0 MPN/100 ml, while 93% of the samples had E. coli counts above the WHO standard of 0 MPN/100 ml. The community had no problems with accessibility and availability of drinking water, but water quality was poor thereby considered unsafe for drinking. The community should be educated on cheap water purification methods.