Abstract:
Background: Accesses to safe water is a universal need howev er,many of the w orld’ s population lack access to adequate and
safe water. Consumption of water contaminated causes health risk to the public and the situation is serous in rural areas.
Objectives: To assess the bacteriological and physico-chemical quality of drinking water sources in a rural community of
Ethiopia.
Methods:Water samples were collected from tap,open springs,open dug wells and protected springs for bacteriological
analysis of total coliforms and thermotolerant coliforms. The turbidity ,pH and temperature were measured immediately
after collection.
Results: Most drinking water sources were found to have coliform counts above the recommended national and international
guidelines and had high sanitary risk scores. There was a statistically significant difference among water sources with respect
to TC and TTC (p < 0.05) and there was a statistically significant positive correlation between coliform counts and sanitary
risk scores (p < 0.01).Most water sources didn’ t satisfy the turbidity values recommended by WHO.
Conclusion:The water sources were heavily contaminated which suggested poor protection and sanitation practice in the
water sources.Source protection strategies as well as monitoring are recommend for this community .
