Assessing the Impact of a Risk-Based Intervention on Piped Water Quality in Rural Communities: The Case of Mid-Western Nepal

Ensuring universal access to safe drinking water is a global challenge, especially in rural areas. This research aimed to assess the effectiveness of a risk-based strategy to improve drinking water safety for five gravity-fed piped schemes in rural communities of the Mid-Western Region of Nepal. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2018-07, Vol.15 (8), p.1616
Main Authors: Tosi Robinson, Dorian, Schertenleib, Ariane, Kunwar, Bal Mukunda, Shrestha, Rubika, Bhatta, Madan, Marks, Sara J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic sciences
Community
Consumption
Containers
Data management
Decision making
Drinking water
Drinking Water - standards
E coli
Environmental monitoring
Feces
Gravity
Guidelines as Topic
Humans
Hygiene
Inspection
Intervention
Laboratories
Microorganisms
Nepal
Population
Public health
Risk
Risk Assessment - standards
Rural areas
Rural Population
Safety
Sanitation
Statistical analysis
Strategy
Water Microbiology - standards
Water Purification - standards
Water quality
Water Quality - standards
Water shortages
Water supply
Water Supply - standards
Water treatment
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Summary:Ensuring universal access to safe drinking water is a global challenge, especially in rural areas. This research aimed to assess the effectiveness of a risk-based strategy to improve drinking water safety for five gravity-fed piped schemes in rural communities of the Mid-Western Region of Nepal. The strategy was based on establishing community-led monitoring of the microbial water quality and the sanitary status of the schemes. The interventions examined included field-robust laboratories, centralized data management, targeted infrastructure improvements, household hygiene and filter promotion, and community training. The results indicate a statistically significant improvement in the microbial water quality eight months after intervention implementation, with the share of taps and household stored water containers meeting the international guidelines increasing from 7% to 50% and from 17% to 53%, respectively. At the study endline, all taps had a concentration of
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph15081616