Assessing the quality of drinking water from selected water sources in Mbarara city, Southwestern Uganda

dc.contributor.authorAbaasa, Catherine N.
dc.contributor.authorAyesiga, Savino
dc.contributor.authorLejju, Julius B.
dc.contributor.authorAndama, Morgan
dc.contributor.authorTamwesigire, Imelda K.
dc.contributor.authorBazira, Joel
dc.contributor.authorByarugaba, Frederick
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-03T20:41:34Z
dc.date.available2024-07-03T20:41:34Z
dc.date.issued2024-03-28
dc.description.abstractThis study assessed the physical, chemical, and microbiological quality with emphasis on risk score, source apportionment, geochemistry, feacal coliforms and water quality index of drinking water from selected water sources. A cross-sectional study was conducted in six villages in Mbarara city, south-western Uganda. Each selected source was inspected using a WHO-adopted sanitary inspection questionnaire. Each source’s risk score was calculated. Thirty-seven samples were taken from one borehole, nine open dug wells, four rain harvest tanks, and twenty-three taps. The values for apparent color and phosphate were higher than the permissible level as set by the World Health Organization and Ugandan standards (US EAS 12). The isolated organisms were Klebsiella spp. (8.11%), Citrobacter divergens (62.16%), Citrobacter fluendii (2.7%), E. coli (35.14%), Enterobacter aerogenes (8.11%), Enterobacter agglomerus (5.4%), Proteus spp. (2.7%), Enterobacter cloacae (13.5%), and Proteus mirabilis (2.7%). Twelve water sources (32.4%) had water that was unfit for human consumption that was unfit for human consumption (Grade E), Five sources (13.5%) had water that had a very poor index (Grade D), nine (24.3%) had water of poor index (Grade C), eight (21.6%) had water of good water index (Grade B), and only three (8.1%) had water of excellent water quality index (Grade A). The piper trilinear revealed that the dominant water type of the area were Mgso4 and Caso4 type. Gibbs plot represents precipitation dominance. PCA for source apportionment showed that well, tap and borehole water account for the highest variations in the quality of drinking water. These results suggest that drinking water from sources in Mbarara city is not suitable for direct human consumption without treatment. We recommend necessary improvements in water treatment, distribution, and maintenance of all the available water sources in Mbarara City, South Western Uganda.en_US
dc.identifier.citationAbaasa, C. N., Ayesiga, S., Lejju, J. B., Andama, M., Tamwesigire, I. K., Bazira, J., & Byarugaba, F. (2024). Assessing the quality of drinking water from selected water sources in Mbarara city, South-western Uganda. Plos one, 19(3), e0297794. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297794en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://dir.muni.ac.ug/handle/20.500.12260/658
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherPlos oneen_US
dc.subjectQuality of drinking wateren_US
dc.subjectMbarara cityen_US
dc.subjectSouth-westernen_US
dc.subjectUgandaen_US
dc.titleAssessing the quality of drinking water from selected water sources in Mbarara city, Southwestern Ugandaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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