HUMAN DERTERMINANTS OF FECAL CONTAMINATION STATUS OF SHALLOW WELLS IN DEDE DIVISION MIGORI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

A shallow well is a hole dug, bored or drilled less than 50M deep to extract water. Contamination

of shallow wells with fecal matter presents a grave public health threat in developing countries,

such as Kenya. A report by WHO shows that 1 billion people practice open defecation with nine

out of ten of them in rural areas. In Kenya unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene are the 2nd leading

risk factors causing morbidity and mortality at the national and county levels respectively. In

Dede Division, 65.5% of households depend on shallow wells for domestic needs and there are

rising trends of confirmed cases of fecal-related diseases. The study sought to assess human

determinants of fecal contamination status of shallow wells in Dede Division. A cross-sectional

study of households using the wells was conducted. Fisher’s formula was then used to calculate

the sample size of the heads of households, giving a sample size of 386 heads of households. Out

of the 180 shallow wells, 54 (30% of 180) were proportionately sampled and grab sampling

technique adopted while sampling water from each of the sampled shallow wells. Basic physical

parameters like temperature, turbidity and pH were analyzed by a portable turbidity meter and pH

meter while H2S rapid field test was employed for total corliforms analysis of grab samples in the

field. Fecal contamination status of each well was determined by Membrane Filter Technique in

kisumu government labaratory. Chi-square test was used to measure associations between

variables while Multi-variate logistic regression analysis applied to test the hypothesis. The study

reported significant relationship between level of knowledge of respondents on a well being too

close to a latrine as a potential route (risk factor), a well located downhill a latrine, an

open/uncovered well, surface run-offs into wells, dropping objects in shallow wells, using a dirty

drawer, people/animals dropping in wells, doing laundry next to a well, and human/animal feces

dropping in the well as potential routes of fecal contamination. Majority of shallow wells (69%)

tested positive for E. Coli, a strong indicator for presence of fecal matter in water, with only 31%

testing negative. Common human determinants (risk factors) by and large are functions of fecal

contamination status of shallow wells in Dede Division. Households in Dede Division should

ensure adequate treatment of water from shallow wells before consumption. hence reduce the

rising trends of fecal related diseases in the Division