Abstract
Background: In South Africa, most of the municipalities still experience water quality challenges. Gert Sibande District Municipality (GSDM) is one of the District Municipalities in the Mpumalanga Province, a province with a history of waterborne diseases. GSDM’s drinking water sources consist mainly of boreholes and piped-water systems. While previous studies conducted water quality investigations mainly on the piped-water system, this study explored the bacteriological quality of water, by looking at the heterotrophic plate count (HPC), total coliform (TC), and E. coli quality of boreholes.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the bacteriological quality of water in boreholes, from 2016, 2019 and 2020 in Gert Sibande District Municipality.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in GSDM. A total of 197 borehole water samples formed part of the study sample. The samples were collected from the following towns: Amsterdam, Chrissiesmeer, Commondale, Ethandakukhanya, Hartbeesfontein, Iswepe, KwaNgema, Piet Retief, Rustplaas, Sheepmoor, Thokozane and Warburton. The sampling method allowed every sample to be included and ensured adequate representation of the sample population. Data was collected using an extraction form, and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27 was used for the management and analysis of data. Statistical tests such as frequency distribution and Pearson’s chi-squared tests were conducted to examine the relationships between variables in this study.
Results: Most towns were compliant with HPC count, Sheepmoor had 85.71% (n=24) water samples with HPC below 1000. Chrissiesmeer was the most compliant with total coliform (TC) with (86.76%), followed by Hartbeesfontein with (54.17%). TC was statistically significant, p-value<0.0001. The E. coli count was most common in Rustplaas town (53.37%) followed by Hartbeesfontein town (20.83 %). Hence, the proportional distribution of the presence of E. coli was statistically significant, p-value<0.0001. Most of the borehole water samples (75.13%) were compliant and had no E. coli count. Mkhondo sub-district is the one with the least compliant samples in terms of TC and E. coli as compared to Msukalingwa. Hence, the proportional distribution of the presence of TC and E. coli was statistically significant, p-value<0.0001.
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Conclusions: Borehole water especially in rural and farming municipalities are more likely to have bacterial contamination. While there are measures in place, such as water quality monitoring, the study concludes that municipalities should further provide a proper sanitation system to avoid any possible contamination of borehole water sources. Government institutions, for example, The Department of Health Directorate responsible for Health Promotion should provide adequate public education on indiscriminate waste disposal and farming practices.
Keywords: Bacteriological water quality, boreholes, E. coli, Gert Sibande District Municipality, heterotrophic plate count (HPC) and total coliform.