ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF HAND-DUG WELL WATER: A CASE STUDY FROM BLAMA, SMALL-BO CHIEFDOM, SIERRA LEONE

Access to safe drinking water remains a significant challenge for billions of people worldwide, with 2.2 billion individuals lacking access to safely managed drinking water at home. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines safe drinking water as water that meets specific criteria regarding microbial, chemical, and physical characteristics, as outlined in WHO guidelines or national standards. To qualify as "safely managed," drinking water must be accessible on the premises, available for at least 12 hours per day, and free from contamination by Escherichia coli, arsenic, or fluoride. Despite efforts to improve water accessibility and quality, the WHO/UNICEF (2017) report highlights persistent disparities in access to safely managed drinking water. While an estimated 5.3 billion people globally have access to such water, significant portions of the population still rely on basic, limited, or unimproved water sources. Specifically, 1.4 billion individuals use basic services, 206 million utilize limited services, 435 million access unimproved sources, and 144 million rely on untreated surface water. This abstract underscores the ongoing challenge of ensuring universal access to safe drinking water and the complexities involved in meeting WHO criteria for "safely managed" water sources. Addressing these challenges requires multifaceted approaches, including infrastructure development, policy interventions, and community engagement initiatives. By analyzing the current status of water access and quality worldwide, this study aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to improve water security and public health outcomes globally