A Cross-sectional Assessment of the Potability of Water Quality from Available Water Sources in the Villages of the Palwa Field Practice Area, Ujjain

Abstract

Background: Approximately 64 percent of the Indian population resides in rural settings. They have access to varied water sources like well, rivers, ponds, handpumps, tubewells, which come with a cost of risk of diverse contamination. The present study explores this component in the studied villages.
Aim & Objective: To assess the water quality of the routinely used water source in 7 adopted villages under ‘Community Adoption Program for Postgraduates (CAPP)’ in the field practice area of RD Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, M.P.
Methodology: Under the signature ‘Community Adoption Program for Postgraduates (CAPP)’, seven villages in the rural field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine were selected by quota sampling. On-site testing of water samples for commissioned sources was carried out for pH, TDS, and temperature using a Deluxe water analysis kit (model 172). Additional samples were collected and transported under specific conditions for further chemical and microbiological analysis at institutional laboratories.
Result: 24 samples from viable water sources from 7 villages were collected for laboratory and microbiological analysis, of which 5 samples were from a well, 9 from a tubewell, 5 from a handpump, and 5 from a tap. Among these samples 24 (100%) exceeded the desirable limit for Total Hardness, 23 (96.15%) exceeded the desirable limit for TDS, 22 (88.4%) exceeded the desirable limit for alkalinity, 19 (80.7%) exceeded the desirable limit for Calcium Hardness, 10 (42.3%) exceeded the desirable limit for magnesium hardness, 8 (34.6%) exceeded the desirable limit for chloride. 24 samples sent for microbiological evaluation, of which 21 samples (87.5%) recorded growth on MacConkey Purple broth, and 12 samples (50%) recorded fecal coliform >10MPN/100 mL with Indole test and Brilliant Green Bile Broth (BGBB), and 8 samples (33.33%) reported the presence of E. coli >1. On inferential analysis, chloride levels demonstrated a statistically significant association (p = 0.047). A concentrated group of villages (in close proximity) reported significantly high physiochemical parameters with respect to TDS, Total Hardness, and Total Alkalinity. (ANOVA, p<0.05).
Conclusion: Results highlighted the need for continued quality checks of usable water sources from rural Indian setups, and necessary corrections of deranged parameters for better population health.