Household Water Treatment Practice And Associated Factors Among Rural Households In Wonchi District, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Worldwide, approximately 1.8 billion people drinking unsafe water, with majority living in low and middle income countries. In sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia, where majority of populations using unimproved water source for drinking purposes, the household water treatment practice is very low. The aim of this study was to fill gaps in study topic to generate evidence-based on household water treatment practice and associated factors in the study area. Objective: To assess household water treatment practice and associated factors among rural households of Wonchi District, Oromia, Ethiopia, from mid-September to mid-November,2021. Methods: A Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 627 households in rural kebeles of Wonchi District, 2021. A Multistage sampling technique with systematic random sampling was used to select the study subject, and pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data through face-to-face interviews. Completeness of questionnaires was checked daily and data were coded and entered into Epi Info and exported to SPSS software for analysis. First univariate analysis was done, then bivariate and multivariate analysis was computed to identify associated factors of water treatment practice with 95 % CI and adjusted odds ratio with P<0.05. Results: A total of 627 respondents were participated with a response rate of 100%. This study revealed that the level of households water treatment practice was 205(32.7 %) with 95% CI (29.2-36.5). Household water treatment methods were; chlorine, boiling, cloth filter, and ceramic filter. Female respondents (wife) were more practicing household water treatment than male respondents (husband) (AOR=7.87, 95 %CI=4.43,13.99), respondents with formal education were more practicing household water treatment than respondents with informal education (AO=7.67, 95 % CI=4.44,13.26), households using unimproved water sources were more practicing household water treatment than households using improved water sources (AOR=7.08, 95 %CI=3.82,13.11), households owned a radio were more practicing household water treatment than households who didn’t own a radio (AOR=7.61, 95 %CI=3.98, 14.53), households owned a television were more practicing household water treatment than households who didn’t own television (AOR=6.47, 95 %CI=2.61,16.06), and respondents who got information from health care workers were more practicing household water treatment than respondents who didn’t get information from health care workers (AOR=4.26, 95 %CI=2.53, 7.17) were found to be significantly associated with household water treatment practice. Conclusions: Households water treatment practice was 32.7% in the study area. Female respondents (wife), respondents of formal education, households using unimproved water source, households owned radio and television, respondents got information from health care workers were factors significantly associated with water treatment practice. The local health sectors should strengthen awareness to improve household water treatment.