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Fecal Contamination of Drinking Water within Peri-Urban Households, Lima, Peru

We assessed fecal contamination of drinking water in households in 2 peri-urban communities of Lima, Peru. We measured Escherichia coli counts in municipal source water and, within households, water from principal storage containers, stored boiled drinking water, and water in a serving cup. Source water was microbiologically clean, but 26 (28%) of 93 samples of water stored for cooking had fecal contamination. Twenty-seven (30%) of 91 stored boiled drinking water samples grew E. coli. Boiled water was more frequently contaminated when served in a drinking cup than when stored (P < 0.01). Post-source contamination increased successively through the steps of usage from source water to the point of consumption. Boiling failed to ensure safe drinking water at the point of consumption because of easily contaminated containers and poor domestic hygiene. Hygiene education, better point-of-use treatment and storage options, and in-house water connections are urgently needed.

Received January 22, 2007. Accepted for publication June 22, 2007.

Acknowledgments: We particularly thank Brigida Rosario Jimenez Hualpa for her time and knowledge of the community, and whose assistance made this study possible. We also thank Patricia Mónica Burgos Orejuela and Milagros Zavaleta Apéstegui; Margaret Kosek for advice during study design; Paula Maguiña for administrative support; and Rina Meza and NMRCD, Peru, for the use of their equipment. We are especially grateful to the residents of Las Pampas de San Juan de Miraflores for their time and cooperation.

Financial support: This study was funded by the TG35 Training Grant, "Tutorial in Tropical Health," financed by the Fogarty International Center (grant 5T35AI007646).

^* Address correspondence to William E. Oswald, A.B. PRISMA, Av. Carlos Gonzales 251, Urb. Maranga, San Miguel, Lima, Peru. E-mail: william.oswald{at}jhsph.edu

Authors’ addresses: William E. Oswald, Lilia Cabrera, and Robert Gilman, Biomedical Research Unit, A.B. PRISMA, Av. Carlos Gonzales 251, Urb. Maranga, San Miguel, Lima 32, Peru, Telephone/Fax: +51-1-464-0221, E-mail: william.oswald{at}jhsph.edu. Andrés G. Lescano, School of Public Health and Management, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Av. Honorio Delgado 430, Urb. Ingeniería, S.M.P., Lima, Peru, Telephone: +51-1-562-3848, ext. 144, Fax: +51-1-561-3042. Caryn Bern, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341, Telephone: +1 770-488-7654, Fax: +1 770-488-7761. Maritza M. Calderon, Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Av. Honorio Delgado 430, Urb. Ingeniería, S.M.P., Lima, Peru, Telephone: +51-1-483-2942.

Reprint requests: William E. Oswald, Biomedical Research Unit, A.B. PRISMA, Av. Carlos Gonzales 251, Urb. Maranga, San Miguel, Lima, Peru. E-mail: william.oswald{at}jhsph.edu.