Appropriate household water treatment methods in Ethiopia: household use and associated factors based on 2005, 2011, and 2016 EDHS data

Abraham Geremew; Bezatu Mengistie; Jonathan Mellor; Daniele Susan Lantagne; Esayas Alemayehu; Geremew Sahilu

doi:10.1186/s12199-018-0737-9

Appropriate household water treatment methods in Ethiopia: household use and associated factors based on 2005, 2011, and 2016 EDHS data

Environ Health Prev Med. 2018 Sep 27;23(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s12199-018-0737-9.

Authors

Abraham Geremew¹, Bezatu Mengistie², Jonathan Mellor³, Daniele Susan Lantagne⁴, Esayas Alemayehu⁵, Geremew Sahilu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. abrahamgeremew2010@gmail.com.
² Department of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, USA.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, USA.
⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
⁶ Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Diarrheal disease attributable to water and sanitation can be prevented using point-of-use water treatment. In Ethiopia, a small number of households treat water at point-of-use with appropriate methods. However, evidence on factors associated with household use of these treatment methods is scarce. Therefore, this study is intended to explore the household use of appropriate point-of-use water treatment and associated factors in Ethiopia.

Methods: The data of 2005, 2011, and 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health surveys were used for analysis. Households reportedly treating water with bleach, boiling, filtration, and solar disinfection in each survey are considered as treating with appropriate treatment methods. Household water treatment with these treatment methods and factors associated was assessed using bivariate and multivariable regression. In addition, a region level difference in the treatment use was assessed by using multilevel modeling.

Results: The number of households that reported treating water with appropriate water treatment methods was 3.0%, 8.2%, and 6.5% respectively in 2005, 2011, and 2016. Household heads with higher education had 5.99 (95% CI = 3.48, 10.33), 3.61 (95% CI = 2.56, 5.07), and 3.43 (95% CI = 2.19, 6.37) times higher odds of using the treatment methods respectively in 2005, 2011, and 2016 compared to household heads who had no education. There was a significantly high number of households that used appropriate water treatment methods in 2011 (AOR = 2.78, 95% CI = 2.16, 3.57) and 2016 (AOR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.64, 3.89) compared to 2005 data. In pooled data analysis, the reported use of the treatment methods is associated with household head education, residency, drinking water sources, and owning radio and television. From a multilevel modeling, within-region variation is higher than between-region variations in the use of treatment methods in each survey.

Conclusions: Below 10% of households reportedly treating water at point-of-use in each survey attributable to different factors. Designing intervention strategies for wide-scale use of treatment methods at the country level is fundamental.

Keywords: Education of household head; Household use; Water treatment; Wealth status.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Ethiopia
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Water Purification / methods*
Water Purification / standards
Water Purification / statistics & numerical data*
Water Supply / statistics & numerical data
Young Adult