ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER IN RURAL, URBAN, AND AGRICULTURAL REGIONS OF THE WESTERN REGION OF CAMEROON

Access to improved drinking water in the nation of Cameroon is limited. 74% of the total population has access to an improved drinking water source: 94% in urban areas, but just 52% in rural regions. An improved drinking water source includes water piped inside the user’s dwelling, plot or yard; public taps or standpipes; tube wells or boreholes; protected dug wells; protected springs; and rainwater collection systems. The distinction of “improved” is used in this context as a proxy for “safe” that can be considered on a national and global scale.

This study investigates drinking water sources in three zones of the Western Region of Cameroon. The village of Mandekene is home to ~1000, and has 3 drinking water sources: two streams and a flowing pipe coming from one of the streams above the in-town access point. Foumban, a city of ~200000, has various water sources from springs to wells in each of its 19 neighborhoods; 35% of households have access to filtered tap water. Koutaba is an agriculture region of ~50000. Plantations and farms are generally irrigated with diverted streams, and drinking water comes from both improved and unimproved sources; 24% of households with running water.

Samples collected during the summer of 2015 were tested for dissolved metals and dissolved nutrients (N and P) using IC and ICP-OES, and assayed for E. coli and general coliforms . These analyses allow for the description of drinking water resources as either conforming to WHO health guidelines or not, rather than the standard description of water sources as improved or unimproved as described above in order to help understand potential pollution sources and pathways that compromise the safely of these resources. At each drinking water access site, users were interviewed about their water use habits using questions modified from the universal WHO/UNICEF water quality and sanitation survey including how often water is collected, and for how many users; if the water is treated in any way before consumption, and the distance travelled to retrieve water. This information will be combined with the water quality tests to provide a quantitative assessment of access to safe drinking water within the regions. It will also demonstrate the most effective sites for new improved sources that can target the most and most at-risk populations.