Elsevier

Water Research

Volume 25, Issue 8, August 1991, Pages 923-927
Water Research

Faecal contamination of rural water supply in the Sahelian area

https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(91)90139-HGet rights and content

Abstract

The present expansion of water improvement programmes in developing countries is hardly adapted to provide rural areas with an adequate supply of drinking water. Quality control measures encounter many technical difficulties and are not often performed. A study of the microbiological quality of 982 rural water points was undertaken in the Sahelian region of Burkina Faso. A mobile laboratory was developed for this work. Bacteriological analyses were performed using the membrane filtration method and the results measured according to WHO potability standards. Surprisingly, results showed a faecal contamination in 7.7% of boreholes. Possible risk factors of pollution were analysed, leading to recommendations for technical improvement. The responsibility for eliminating these risk factors, in the main, lies with the consumers through health education. This study highlights the place of sanitary education programmes as a priority among the objectives of health policies.

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    Present address: Département de Parasitologie et Médecine Tropicale, Hôpital Pitié-Salpétrière, 83 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris Cedex, France.

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