An Analysis of Water Quality in Small Water Treatment Plants and Households in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico Open Access
Crabbe, Stephen Joseph (2011)
Published
Abstract
Background: With over 884 million people lacking access
to safe water, private water
vendors offer drinking water to communities where public utilities
do not exist or are
inadequate. Due to the informal nature of many private water
vendors, there is often little
regulation of the quality of water they provide or the premium they
charge their customers.
Living Waters for the World (LWW) is an organization that
establishes small water
treatment plants in developing countries in order to create a
sustainable business that
provides communities with safe drinking water at reduced
cost.
Objective: This research project examined the quality of the
water produced by the LWW
treatment plants to determine if it meets World Health Organization
(WHO) guidelines for
drinking water. This study also analyzed household water samples
from LWW customers in
order to assess the drinking water quality in the home and
determine household risk factors
for recontamination of LWW drinking water.
Methods: LWW water treatment plants in four communities in
Mexico were selected for
this study. Water quality at the plant was tested by membrane
filtration to measure the
concentration of total coliforms (TC) and E. coli. Households in
the study communities were
surveyed, and water samples were collected from home water storage
containers and also
tested for TC and E. coli.
Results: LWW water treatment plants produced water that met
WHO and national
guidelines for E. coli, but only 48% of the plant samples
met the guidelines for TC suggesting
inadequate treatment by some plants. Household samples had higher
TC and E. coli
concentrations (31.3 and 2.3 fold, respectively) than plant samples
(p<0.0001, p=0.0130).
No household characteristics were significant predictors of
household water contamination
with E. coli.
Discussion: The LWW water treatment plants produced water
that consistently met WHO
and national standards for E. coli but not TC.
Recontamination occurs in stored household
water before it is consumed. Further research is needed to analyze
the source of LWW
drinking water contamination. Improved hygiene education for LWW
customers may help
reduce in-home contamination and improve the quality of the water
at the point of use.
Table of Contents
Objectives
...............................................................................................................................................
1
Introduction
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3
Background and Significance
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5
Materials and Methodology
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31
Results
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42
Discussion
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60
Conclusion
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71
Recommendations
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73
Future Research
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74
Literature Cited
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76
Appendix A
..........................................................................................................................................
81
Appendix B
..........................................................................................................................................
86
About this Master's Thesis
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