Abstract:
An evaluation of the contamination of drinking water with bacteria and faecal parasites and the methods used to improve its quality was carried out
in Kimumu area of Eldoret municipality. A total of 120 water samples were collected from 40 homesteads and analysed using standard bacteriological and parasitological methods. Fourty water samples were each collected from wells, taps and harvested rain containers respectively.The mean viable bacteria count (VBC) of bacteria in well, tap and rain water at 22°C were 6.35 x 10 3, 1.40
X10 3 and 1.79 x 10 3 respectively.There were statistically significant
differences in VBC at this temperature ( P< 0.05 ), suggesting different amounts of decomposing matter. There were no bacteria enumerated in tap and rain water at 37°C but the well had a high count of 2.40 x 10 3 CFU/ml. A high bacteria count of 1.80 x 10 3 CFUIlOOml in well water at 44°C is above the WHO acceptable value of 3CFUIl00mi and therefore suggested faecal contamination. For tap and rain water, the level of contamination were 1.40 CFU/IOOml and 1.14 CFU/100 ml respectively, these values were negligible according to WHO standards.
