Hygiene, skin infections and types of water supply in Venda, South Africa.

The impact of the installation of a system to supply chlorinated drinking water in Venda, South Africa, on water quality, water use and health status was evaluated by means of questionnaires, examination for skin infections, and microbiological analysis of water samples. Although the water collection journey became shorter in comparison with use of traditional water supplies such as boreholes and unprotected springs, water use per caput showed no increase. The improved water supply showed no contamination with coliforms even after storage. Borehole water exhibited low coliform counts at the source, but after storage a 10- to 15-fold increase took place. Water samples from unprotected springs exhibited high coliform counts, which declined during storage. The prevalence of infectious skin diseases (27.5%) and diarrhoea (3.7%) among pre-schoolchildren showed no correlation with the quality of drinking water or the use of water per caput. Although the prevalence of infectious skin diseases did exhibit a negative correlation with the frequency of washing, no significant health benefit of the improved water supply could be demonstrated in this limited study.