Biologic quality of households' drinking-water in an urban local government area of Oyo State, Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Inadequate access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities is a global public health issue with several associated  illnesses, particularly in developing countries like Nigeria. It is imperative to understand the availabilities of these facilities, to provide  baseline data for policy design and implementation. This study assessed access to WASH facilities. It also examined the factors associated with drinking-water contamination by coliform organisms in households within Ogbomoso North Local Government Area, Oyo-State, Nigeria. Methods: Cross-sectional design was employed and a two-stage cluster-sampling method was used to recruit eligible respondents from  100 households. Interviewer-administer, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Chi-square test and binary logistic  regression were used for inferential statistics. Results: Mean age of respondents was 40.5±16.7years, 81.0% of the households practiced  open defecation, and 78.9% of those with toilet facilities used pit latrines. The most common water source was borehole (71.6%); available  within 5 minutes walking distance to residence of 68.0% of study participants. Sixty-three percent of the households had high  drinking water coliform counts. High drinking-water coliform counts were influenced by the presence or absence of toilets facilities  (OR=4.61, CI=1.22-1.68), types of toilets (OR=2.63, CI=3.22-5.34), and water sources (OR=0.12, CI=0.47-0.68). Conclusion: Access to good  quality water and basic sanitation facilities is sub-optimal in the study setting despite being an urban community. Authors advocate for  more vibrant and intentional government efforts at ensuring equitable access to WASH facilities in the Nigerian communities. This is to  fast-track the nation's journey towards the actualization of the sustainable development goal (SDG)-6.