In Nepal, health problems of general people due to poor quality water is a major issue. Of total
rural population, sixty-six percent has access to pipe drinking water. The water related diseases are
among the top ten diseases in the country. The water borne diseases can be minimized by adopting
effective preventive measures such as health and sanitation awareness, protection of water sources,
avoiding any kind of contamination and so on. If effective efforts are given to these preventive
measures, water borne diseases can be minimized.
Objectives This study aims to investigate the quality of drinking water used by the communities and their
perception towards water quality and water borne diseases.
Methods The study is a cross sectional and descriptive type. Data and information have been acquired from
the field survey by using semi-structured questionnaires containing both open and close-ended
questions. Observation checklist was used to record the environment and sanitation conditions of
the water sources, and settlement localities. Water samples at sources and consumption points
were collected and analyzed their physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters in laboratory.
Sharing of study's findings was performed among the local communities and meanwhile solar
disinfection (SODIS) was intervened for the water purification.
Results The results showed that the physical and chemical parameters of the water samples of different
sources were found lying within the WHO guideline value, whereas the values of the
bacteriological parameters such as coliform bacteria and E. coli were above the WHO guidelines.
It was found that the traditional or religious beliefs have been deeply rooted into the minds of the
community people and therefore their perception towards the causes of diarrhoeal disease were
found traditional rather than real ones such as consumption of contaminated water, poor sanitation,
etc. The solar disinfection method was introduced among the local communities for water
disinfections.
Conclusion The drinking water in the study area was not suitable for human consumption because of
bacteriological contamination. The communities were unaware of the quality of water. Incidence
of water borne diseases was often a health problem among the sampled households. It was found
serious during the dry and rainy seasons. Sanitation around the localities was a basic problem due
to open defecation. Therefore, continuous awareness program should be promoted in order to
encourage the community to use toilets and water purification methods such as SODIS.