Assessing drinking water quality in the city of Kenge, Democratic Republic of the Congo

ABSTRACT Outbreaks of waterborne diseases, such as typhoid fever, hepatitis, and dysenteric diarrhea, have been consistently increasing over the years and severely impinging public health in Kenge City. The population uses river water and groundwater as drinking water and for other domestic uses. A drinking water quality assessment was conducted in the municipality. Physicochemical and bacteriological analyses of water, including the determination of T, pH, electrical conductivity, O2, total dissolved solids (TDS), soluble ions, were carried out on 20 water samples collected in the Soussa and Maniéka Rivers, in Kikobo spring, and in two water boreholes, which are the main drinking water supply sources for the municipality. Samples from tap water distributed by the public water company were analyzed also. The results of this assessment revealed that T, pH, O2, and TDS in water during both the dry and wet seasons generally exceeded the limits set by WHO for drinking water quality. Escherichia coli and Enterococcus were observed in groundwater samples from boreholes and from the Kikobo spring, while total coliforms were identified in all samples, including those from the public water distribution network. These results explained the increasing trends of waterborne diseases observed in the region.