ASSESSMENT OF RURAL HOUSEHOLD WATER TREATMENT IN T/A CHIMALIRO, THYOLO DISTRICT, SOUTHERN MALAWI

Access to drinking water from unsafe sources is widespread amongst communities in rural areas such as Thyolo District in Malawi. This situation puts many individuals and communities at risk of water borne diseases despite some households adopting household water treatment to improve the quality of the water. However, there still remains data gaps regarding the household water treatment methods used to improve public health and their effectiveness. This study was therefore, conducted to assess the efficacy of available rural household water treatment technologies in M’mina and Mangazi villages in Thyolo District, Malawi. A total of 20 randomly selected households were interviewed to determine their access to drinking water, water quality perception and household water treatment technologies among others. The majority of households (80%) in Mangazi and M’mina villages accessed water from boreholes while the 10% of the household access water from unprotected swallow wells and the remaining 10% from protected dug wells. All the respondents in both villages were females (Household mothers 60%, Adult females 35% and other adult females 5%). It was found out that only 45% ( 9 20 of the households) were observed to be practicing household water treatment techniques by boiling or solar disinfection and water storage in closed containers. Water samples from each household storage and water sources were collected for laboratory analysis. The levels of tested parameters were as follows; pH (6.83-8.5), temperature (25-32°C), Salinity (0.2-0.42ppt), Total Dissolved Solids (520-710mg/L) Electrical Conductivity (560-3500 μS/cm), turbidity (5-10NTU), Feacal Coliforms (3-728cfu/100 mL), Total coliforms (6-1042cfu/ 100 mL) - mainly in shallow wells, were found to be above the WHO water quality specifications. This study showed Solar disinfection (SODIS) to be more effective than boiling method in removal of total solids, pH neutralizing, turbidity and fecal coliforms. However, the effectiveness is to a less extent but significant as compared to the no treatment approach. These methods have shown that there’s a need for improvement in order to meet WHO water quality standards. Further study is recommended for different other methods utilized to assess their effectiveness in removal of microorganisms, organics and to correlate their impact with clinical cases of reduction in diarrheal cases in rural communities.