Evaluating WHO prescribed sanitary inspection templates for assessing contamination risks in tubewells with handpump - case of 9 Indian districts.

ABSTRACT

WHO prescribes Sanitary Inspections in recommended formats for assessing contamination risks in Tubewells installed with handpump that often constitute primary drinking water sources in rural and remote areas. Sanitary inspections are easy alternatives to costlier and technically demanding laboratory water quality analysis. However, their efficacy remains uncertain despite decades of widespread usage. This study evaluates sanitary inspections by assessing contamination risk in 324 Tubewells with handpump across 9 districts in India. Results indicate that 62% of sampled sources were safe in lab analysis, despite sanitary inspections indicating varying risks. This implies that WHO prescribed inspections yield higher risks, and overestimated risk perception are likely to skew planning and policy, resulting in budgetary over-allocations and financial mismanagement in water-supplies. There is thus an urgent need to review and revise WHO prescribed sanitary inspection templates.