Applicability of a Surveillance Methodology for the Microbiological Safety of Well Water Supplies, in a Highly Vulnerable Hydrogeological Setting ——A Case Study Based Findings from the West Coastal Area of Sri Lanka

A well surveillance study carried out in nine Divisional Secretariat Divisions on the west coast of Sri Lanka showed that 70.3% of 101 well sampling points were microbially contaminated with equal to, or greater than, faecal coliform grade C (11 - 100 cfu/100 mL). Due to the very vulnerable hydro-geological setting of the coastal sand, laterite and alluvium aquifers occurring in the study areas, the recommended safe separation distance between an on-site sanitation system and a well could not be achieved. Hence, a cardinal rule of well protection was observed to be broken at almost every well study site. The existing excreta disposal systems need to be improved or replaced with more efficient ones before the impact of other sanitary hazards at the well, and wellhead area, on the microbial quality of well water, can be determined and addressed. The published (WHO, 1997) sanitary survey forms for open dug wells and tube wells need to be modified in the context of the study areas described. Based on a comparison of three different statistical methods used to assess the relative significance of each sanitary hazard modification to the methodology for determining the sanitary hazard index (SHI) was prescribed.