Assessment of the Bacteriological, the Physicochemical Chemical Qualities of Drinking Water in Hargeisa, Somaliland

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. XIII 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.