Assessment of Drinking Water Quality Management and a Treatment Feasibility Study for Brick by Brick Water Storage Tanks in Rakai Uganda

Reliable access to safe drinking water is one necessity for humans to live without concern for major health risks. The overall goal of this research is to improve the public health, through improved drinking water, for communities in the Rakai District in Uganda, directly, and other communities in the world, indirectly, via dissemination of knowledge. This study specifically assessed the knowledge of drinking water quality in regards to public health, their sanitation measures, and water treatment methods for users of Brick by Brick rainwater harvesting tanks in the Rakai District (N = 28) by using a knowledge, attitudes, and practice survey and a sanitary inspection; tested the water quality of the Brick by Brick rainwater harvesting tanks (N = 33) in the Rakai District for physical, chemical, and microbial parameters; and piloted a sustainable treatment technology called the chulli system that uses excess heat from a cookstove to treat water. Twenty of the participants identified contaminated water as a cause of diarrheal disease (N = 28). Participants perceived boiling (1), chlorine (2), and filtering (3) as the best three methods of treating water. The average score for the sanitary inspection was 2.27±2.31, which falls between the low and medium expected risk score categories. Fourteen of the thirty-three samples showed detectable levels of colony forming units for coliforms, and two of the thirty-three samples showed detectable levels of colony forming units for E. coli. A demonstration chulli system was constructed for St. Andrew’s Primary School in Rakai District and operated successfully. The research supports that the chulli system along with proper sanitation measures identified in the sanitary inspections can be a sustainable option for users of Brick by Brick rainwater harvesting tanks in the Rakai District