Microbiological Quality of Schoolchildren’s Drinking Water in the Rural Communes of Coalla and Manni in the Eastern Region of Burkina Faso Drinking Water Quality of Schoolchildren

Background: The issue of access to drinking water is gradually being solved in rural Burkina Faso by the building of structures to capture groundwater, such as boreholes. Well maintained, they allow people to have access to safe water for their different needs. However contamination of these boreholes can occur in case of lack of hygiene and sanitation in the immediate environment or during water transportation with unclean containers or during water storage in households. As part of the implementation of LAAFIA project in the Eastern region of Burkina Faso, Helvetas Swiss Inter co-operation Burkina is involved in the education of the beneficiary communities of boreholes and latrines, mainly schoolchildren to adopt adequate hygiene and sanitation practices. The objective of this baseline study was therefore to evaluate the microbiological quality of the boreholes, households and schoolchildren drinking water before the starting of the educational component of this project. Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 14 to 28 December 2016 (dry season) in the rural communes of Coalla and Manni in the Eastern region of Burkina Faso. Drinking water samples from schoolchildren, households and boreholes were collected aseptically and analyzed for total coliforms, E. coli and faecal streptococci. The membrane filtration method (0.45 mm diameter) was used for water analysis. Rapid E.coli specific culture medium (Biorad, France) was used to isolate total coliforms and E. coli, and Bile Esculin Azide medium for faecal streptococci. The media were examined after 18-24h of culture at 44.5°C and the results obtained were interpreted according to WHO standards 2011. Results: A total of 251 water samples including boreholes water (18 samples), household water (128 samples) and schoolchildren water (105 samples) were collected and analyzed. No microorganisms was found in 66.7% (12/18) of the boreholes water samples compared to 11.7% (15/128) of the household water samples and 5.6% (8/105) of the schoolchildren water samples. Overall, schoolchildren’ water were the most polluted with a cumulative presence of total coliforms, E. coli and faecal streptococci at 22.8% (24/105) followed by households water at 21.1% (27/128). Conclusion: These baseline study’s results confirm the good microbiological quality of the boreholes’ water that they are the main sources of water supply for the rural communes of Coalla and Manni. Unfortunately, secondary contaminations make this water “unsafe” for household consumption and especially for children