Management of risk factors for breaking localised pathways of microbial contamination in tubewells with handpump: a case study from India

Microbial contamination of handpump (HP) is common in developing countries like India. The WHO recommends sanitary inspection (SI) to assess the risk of water source contamination. In SI, all risks are given equal weightage. However, different mathematical models have shown that risks associated with localised pathways have a relatively higher influence on microbial contamination. This study aims to assess the efficacy of eliminating four risks associated with localised pathways and have shown a higher positive association with microbial contamination of HP than others in bivariate frequency analysis and four binary logistic regressions applied on 324 HPs randomly selected from nine districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Analysis showed the four risks: (i) HP loose at base: (ii) apron cracked: (iii) apron < 1 m an: (iv) drainage broken have a higher positive association than others. In this study, the above four risks were eliminated from 154 HPs (safe 48 and unsafe 106) through standard civil structures keeping other risks untouched. Post-intervention thermotolerant coliforms (TTC) tests were carried out and unsafe HPs were reduced from 106 to 3. Therefore, managing the four risks associated with localised pathways is highly effective in preventing microbial contamination of HP water.