Safety of Drinking Water Source and People’s Choice Behavior in Rural India

Abstract

The objective of this study was to reveal the causes of damages by diarrhea in India. In particular, this study focused on the safety of drinking water sources and people’s preference for it in rural India because spread of toilets is difficult there at the moment. Two villages in Andhra Pradesh, India were selected as survey sites of this study. Concentrations were measured for coliforms, general bacteria and iron in all water sources and surface waters. Interviews and questionnaire surveys were conducted at a public school in the village. People in one village used wells and hand pumps while people in another village used a pond for drinking purpose. It was revealed that pump was the safest water source according to the results of measuring concentration of coliforms. Pond water, which is a surface water source, and well water, which is drawn from unconfined aquifers, were all contaminated by excreta. On the other hand, pump water, which is pumped up from confined aquifers and can be defined as safe water, was not contaminated considerably. However, people did not have proper risk perceptions and tended to hesitate to drink pump water because of its metallic taste and smell. Actually, concentration of iron of pump water was higher than those of the others. The pond and wells represented a high risk of diarrhea and it was difficult to improve them because hygiene education was not enough at schools; thus wide spread of toilets seemed difficult. In order to encourage people to use pumps, they should be made of materials which do not erode and affect the taste and smell of water. It is also important that people have proper risk perceptions about each water source.