Bacterial contamination of school’s drinking water in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Access to safe drinking water and hygienic living conditions is a global concern and these issues are especially serious in developing countries. The objective of this study is to evaluate the quality of water consumed by kindergarten schools’ children in Addis Ababa city, who are highly susceptible to issues associated with microbial contamination in water. Total coliforms, E. coli, pH and residual chlorine in the water distribution system were measured at three water sources and 38 schools. The microbial analysis result shows 7 out of 38 schools were contaminated with total coliform bacteria. However, E. coli was not detected in any of the samples, meaning that all samples were free from fecal contamination. In addition, the free chlorine level of the samples was also tested. The results indicated that 16 out of 38 (42.1%) of the water samples had a free chlorine value below the WHO recommended 0.2mg/L. It is therefore, possible to conclude that the efficiency of a water supply infrastructure determines the concentration levels of microbial contamination and residual chlorine that reaches the end users. The study addresses critical issues and methods to mitigate the problems caused by microbial contamination in water supply distribution infrastructure.