Programs Departments, Plan International Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe E-mail:
Department of Crop and Soil Science, Lupane State University, Lupane, Zimbabwe.
J Water Health. 2022 Mar;20(3):518-530. doi: 10.2166/wh.2022.251.
Access to safe drinking water is a key determinant of public health and is considered a basic human right essential to avert waterborne diseases. Understanding the association between household drinking water handling practices and the bacteriological quality of water at the point of use is critical since water quality may deteriorate between source and point of use. This study aimed at determining this association in Murewa district in Zimbabwe. Interviews were conducted with 381 household heads and hygiene practices were observed at selected households. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between household drinking water handling practices and independent variables. The variables that were significantly associated with safe water at the point of use were tertiary education (p = 0.006), monthly income (p = 0.005), cleanliness of water collection containers (p = 0.011) and the method of drawing water from containers (p = 0.001). There is a need to intensify health and hygiene education, emphasising the importance of hygienic water handling practices, cleaning of collection containers and hygienic drawing of water from storage containers. The integration of income-generating activities into WASH projects should be strengthened to enable the acquisition of water collection and storage containers that can safeguard the quality of water between collection and consumption.
获得安全饮用水是公共卫生的关键决定因素，被认为是避免水传播疾病的基本人权。了解家庭饮用水处理方法与使用点水质之间的关系至关重要，因为水质可能在水源和使用点之间恶化。本研究旨在津巴布韦穆雷瓦地区确定这种关联。对 381 户家庭户主进行了访谈，并在选定的家庭观察了卫生习惯。使用逻辑回归分析检查了家庭饮用水处理方法与自变量之间的关联。与使用点安全用水显著相关的变量是高等教育（p = 0.006）、月收入（p = 0.005）、集水容器清洁度（p = 0.011）和从容器中取水的方法（p = 0.001）。需要加强卫生和健康教育，强调卫生用水处理方法、集水容器清洁和从储存容器中卫生取水的重要性。应加强将创收活动纳入 WASH 项目，以便能够获得可以在收集和消费之间保障水质的集水和储存容器。
