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. 2016 Nov;21(6):450-454.
doi: 10.1007/s12199-016-0547-x. Epub 2016 Jun 21.

Household safe water management in Kisii County, Kenya

A G Misati  1
Affiliations

Household safe water management in Kisii County, Kenya

A G Misati. Environ Health Prev Med. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: Contaminated drinking water can lead to the risk of intestinal and other infectious diseases that lead to high morbidity. Therefore, determining household safe water management practices will benefit billions of people by ensuring there is no recontamination.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used and a sample of 346 households was selected through systematic random sampling. A questionnaire was then used which was based on the core questions on drinking water and sanitation for household surveys and descriptive analyses were performed for the collected data using SPSS.

Results: Springs were predominantly used as the main source of water (97 %). Approximately, over half (58 %) of the sampled households never treated their drinking water to ensure that it was safe for drinking. Mostly (56 %), the households used jerricans for the storage of water with a majority of the households (95 %) covering their containers which were elevated from the reach of children in 52 % of the households.

Conclusions: The risks included lack of water treatment, not covering the water container, risk of permitting dipping for those containers, lacking narrow neck and the risk of container being accessible to children. Basic treatment of the water at the household level by use of chemicals, filtration and boiling may have a great impact on the drinking water quality and health of the inhabitants of Kisii County. Also, creation of awareness on the possibilities of spring water being contaminated should be carried because of the assumption that spring water is safe and does not need to be treated.

Keywords: Contamination; Drinking water; Household water management; Recontamination; Safe water management.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kisii County
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Level of education of the respondents
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Contamination levels of the different types of water sources
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Type of water source used by the respondents
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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