Health-related Microbial Quality of Drinking Water in Kangavar, Western Iran

Abstract

Evaluation of the microbial quality of drinking water can prevent the water-borne diseases outbreak that is one of the most important challenges in the world. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the seasonal variation of water-borne diseases prevalence associated with the microbial quality of drinking water and the comparison between rural and urban areas in Kangavar city, west of Iran. To accomplish this study, the results of the microbial quality of drinking water and cases of simple diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis A were received from all rural and urban health centers of the city during five years (2006-2010). To determine the relationship between diseases and microbial quality of water, Correlation instruction and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. The results showed that except hepatitis A, the incidence of all diseases in different areas (urban or rural) and seasons had significant relationship with microbial contamination of drinking water (P-value<0.05). The stronger relationship was observed in rural areas than in urban areas (except simple diarrhea) and in warm seasons than in cold seasons. With respect to the impact of the microbial quality of water on the incidence of dysentery and typhoid diseases, keeping up the quality of drinking water in places and times with high sensitivity (rural areas and warm seasons) should be considered strongly.