Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards household treatment of piped water among rural households in Busoro-Parish,Busoro Sub-County, Kabarole District, Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: Nearly 70% of the world’s Population still resides in rural settings of which close to 768 million lack access to safe water. The World Health Organization (WHO et al.) estimates that more than 80% of all diseases in the world are associated with water. In 2016, Uganda’s national Safe water coverage in rural areas was estimated to be 67% (compared to 65% in 2015). However, the functionality of rural water supplies reduced from 88% in 2015 to 86% in 2016 Objective: This study aimed at assessing the knowledge; attitudes and practices towards piped water treatment in rural households to provide information to responsible stakeholders to increase accessibility, improve on household treatment mechanisms and improve the quality of piped water in order to promote health Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted using both qualitative and quantitative methods among 158 households and 11 key informants (KIs). Semi-structured questionnaires and Key informant guides were used to collect the data. The quantitative data was managed and analyzed using STATA version 4 whereas the qualitative data was coded, edited and meanings made from the statements to come up with a detailed data from the area. Results: A total of 158 respondents participated in the study; 96.2% (152/158) reported to know at least a method of household water treatment. Of those that knew about household water treatment, 91.1% (n=152) knew boiling however majority (78.3%, n=152) used firewood to boil the water. Over 48% (76/158) reported dirty containers to be the major source of tap water contamination at household level. More than half (71.5%, 113/158) ensured safety of the drinking water through clean containers. Over 94% reported to know the effects of drinking untreated water. Female respondents and those who completed Secondary and above, were more likely to be knowledgeable about the sources of tap water contamination at household level (COR=1.04, C.I=0.467-2.33) and (COR=4.1, C.I=1.783-9.425, P-value=0.001) respectively as compared to their counterparts in the reference categories at 95% confidence interval. Conclusion and recommendations: Providing safe, reliable, piped water to every household is one of the essential goals that target to yield optimal health gains in towards the achievements of the SDGs (most especially the 6th goal). However, this clean water requires minimum standards of treatment, handling and proper storage prior to its consumption so as to prevent any chances that would render it susceptible to contamination with disease causing agents at household level.