Bacteriological Quality of Water and Extent of Waterborne Diseases in the Cities of Kinshasa Province –East, Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction: Every year, more than 1.4 million children die before their fifth birthday due to the consumption of contaminated water. It has been shown that 88% of diarrhea cases worldwide are due to unsafe water supplies.

Objective: To determine the bacteriological water quality of supply sources and the extent of waterborne diseases in households in the City Province of Kinshasa–East.

Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study of 438 households located in the municipalities of Masina, Kimbanseke and N’Sele. It consists of two parts: the first part is the household survey and the second is the analysis of water quality from supply and conservation sources in heads of households coupled with direct observation. Bacteriological analyses on 78 samples collected.

Results: The extent of waterborne diseases is 59.7% in our sample population and 27.9% among children under 5 years old in selected households. This study also showed that only 34.6% of water from selected sources is exempt from contamination compared to 65.4% of water from contaminated sources.  The risk of water contamination increases by 32.5 times in unimproved sources.

Conclusion: The bacteriological quality of water is not satisfactory in most supply sources. A high prevalence of waterborne diseases in the population of our sample and among children under 5 years old in selected households. An improvement in the household water supply system will reduce the prevalence of waterborne diseases in Kinshasa-Est.

Keywords: Water quality, extent, waterborne diseases.