Behavioural Factor of Boiling Drinking Water in Rural India

Abstract

In India, 0.4 million children die from diarrhoea which is a particularly alarming figure. There are several kinds of water sources in rural India, but most of them are contaminated. Boiling is an effective way to purify water and improve its safety for drinking. The objective of this study was to reveal the behavioural factor of boiling. A village near Sompeta city in Andhra Pradesh, India was selected as a survey site of this study. On-site surveys were conducted from 14th to 29th April and from 23rd September to 5th October in 2012. The surveys consisted of a water quality test of boiling and interviews with all 53 households that had a child of 3 or 4 years old. The contents of water quality test were coliforms, iron and total hardness, and the interview questions were about habits and thoughts relating to boiling. The effect of boiling, the reduction of infection risks, could be observed by the test. However, the evaluation of the taste of boiled-water was worse than non-boiled-water, even though iron could be removed. Thirty-two per cent households always use boiled-water and 15% use it only in rainy season. The main reason for boiling was to prevent infections. They knew boiling is an effective way to reduce the risk of infection and thus use boiled-water daily. On the other hand, 42% households use boiled-water only when they get sick and 11% of households do not use it. The reason for not boiling was not the cost and trouble but a lack of awareness of the necessity for it. In this area, doctors had given advice to boil water for the sake of children’s health. Some households followed the advice and used boiled-water; however, there were a number of households that did not follow the advice and still used water without boiling.