Bacteriological and Virological Quality of Drinking Water in Ethiopia

Water Quality monitoring is assessed widely using different indicators. Since there is no universal indicator that has been identified yet, assessing water quality using bacterial and viral indicators that would provide a more complete picture of water quality. To assess quality of drinking water using bacterial and phages indicators. A cross sectional prospective study was conducted on 218 drinking water samples of various sources collected from some regions of Ethiopia from February to June 2016 to determine coliphages by the help of CB390 E. coli host using plaque assay technique; most probable number for coliforms and pouring for hetrotrophic plate count at Ethiopian Public Health Institute. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20 statistical package. Majority of the waters, mainly untreated sources contained bacterial and viral indicators above the standard limits. This indicates that the sources are contaminated with environmental and fecal contaminants signifying poor quality of water and it is a potential threat for human health. Hence regular monitoring of water source using various indicators should be a priority agenda by all stake holders.