Fecal contamination of drinking water from source to point of use and associated factors among households in Debre-Tabor town, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Faecal contamination of drinking water is a significant environmental determinant of human health. OBJECTIVE: To assess fecal contamination of drinking water from the source to the point of use and associated factors among households in Debre Tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia, in 2022. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Debre Tabor Town. A total of 355 water samples were collected and analysed using the membrane filtration method to identify E. coli contamination. These included 27 samples from water sources, 5 from reservoirs, and 323 from household storage containers. A structured and pretested questionnaire was used to identify factors associated with the potential contamination of drinking water in household storage containers. The instrument was piloted on 10% of the planned sample in Woreta, a neighboring town excluded from the main study, about two weeks before data collection to assess clarity, question flow, and respondent understanding. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with the presence or absence of E. coli in household storage containers, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and a significance level of p ≤ 0.05. The overall goodness of fit for the model was assessed using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. RESULT: Among the water samples analysed, 15 (55.6%) of sources, 1 (20%) of reservoirs, and 187 (57.9%) of households tested positive for E. coli bacteria. Educational status [AOR = 3.53; 95% CI: [1.76, 7.08]], the type of sanitation [AOR = 2.50; 95% CI: [1.41, 4.44]], household water treatment [AOR = 3.80; 95% CI: [1.78, 8.12]], and the sanitary risk score of households’ drinking water storage conditions [AOR = 3.33; 95% CI: [1.33, 8.32]] were significantly associated with the faecal contamination of drinking water at the point of use. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of fecal contamination of drinking water was high from source to point of use in the study area. Therefore, capacity building through education should be provided for the community on source protection, utilisation of improved sanitation facilities, and water treatment.