dc.description.abstract | This study was conducted to evaluate the quality and safety of drinking water in Hargeisa city,
Somaliland. Hargeisa water agency serves only 30% of the population, and the majority of
Hargeisa's population gets their water from unsupervised sources. Furthermore, there was a
limited information available about the safety of drinking water in Hargeisa. The objectives of
this study was to assess the bacteriological, physical and chemical quality of drinking water
from different sources.
A total of 85 samples were collected from three main sources of drinking water (Pipped, wells
and bottled) and their bacteriological quality evaluated based on the most probable number
(MPN) of coliforms, feacal coliform counts and for E. coli and streptococcus fecalis. In
addition, 30 samples were processed for physical and chemical parameters. UV-visible
spectrophotometer, titration and atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) were the
employed analytical techniques.
This study found, about 16% (n=55) of bottled, 87 % (n=15) of pipe, and 93 % (n= 15) of wells
water were positive, indicating the presence of lactose fermenting coliform. The mean value for
bottled water was 7.8, while piped and well water had 58.9 and 106 cfu/100ml respectively for
total coliforms, reflecting unsafe water based on WHO 0 MPN index/ 100ml. The water source
and coliform units was found to be statistically significant F (2, 32) = 3.1, p < 0.001. The overall
prevalence of E. coli contamination in water samples was 13 % (n= 55) of the bottled, 47% (n=
15) of the piped, and 73 % ((n= 15) of the well's water. This study revealed that 15 % of the
bottled, 53 % of piped water, and 67 % of the well waters at the household level have at least
two colonies / 100ml of Streptococus fecalis.
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The mean values for pH (expect for well water), total dissolved solids (TDS), Sulphate (SO42-
), Nitrate (NO3 -), Fluoride (F-), Magnesium (bottled and Well), Calcium, Potassium, Sodium,
Iron, Zinc, and Lead were within the permissible limits recommended by the World Health
Organization (WHO) standards for drinking water. However, Electric conductivity (EC) level
for piped and wells, Magnesium for pipe water, and pH level for wells were all above WHO
recommended levels. In the majority of parameters there was no significant different between
pipped and well water sources. However, there was a significant difference in the means of
bottled from the other sources. The study discovered a discrepancy between the label
information and the actual content in the bottles sampled, particularly in pH, TDS, and
Chlorides.
The research discovered poor bacteriological quality drinking water in Hargeisa, mainly due to
water shortages, poor water handling, lack of centralized drinking water sources, inadequate
community awareness, and inadequate water safety guidelines. It is recommended, storage
practices should be improved, water should be boiled before drinking, and the government
should establish and enforce drinking water quality guidelines and standards. | en_US |
dc.description.department | a
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine,
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya | |