Microbial Qualities of Drinking Water and Its Public Health Implication in the Case of Adama City, Ethiopia

This study is an investigation on microbial quality drinking water and public health in Adama city during June to December2016. Accordingly, seven strata were formed from the total distribution system of municipal drinking water starting from the raw water intake up to community storage. Public health was assessed by using primary and secondary data. The presences of the indicator organism were considered for drinking water quality vis-a-vis public health. Multi-tube fermentation techniques employed to evaluate the indicator organism and the result expressed in the MPN. 52 sample per month were tested and totally 312 samples are tested entire the study period. The findings revealed that 26.28% of samples examined were positive for TCB, 9.29% for FCB and 0.96% for E. coli. 30% of the E.coli contamination was due to unhygienic handling of water after collection. Collected data show that 27.06% of cases admitted for laboratory test in the government health care centre were either waterborne or water related diseases. Among those positive samples for indicator organism, 79.89% of them were confirmed with the physical address of patients. Drinking water quality alteration in the study area is mainly at home due to unhygienic handling. Furthermore, illegal extension, infrastructural expansion, low initial concentration of chlorine, aging of pipeline, distribution by rotation and lack public awareness in general are the other main reasons for water quality impairment. These factors have to be considered to maintain public health in the area by any of concerned bodies.