Investigating the Role of Household Water Storage Practices in Shaping Microbial Contamination and Diarrheal Disease Burden in South East Nigeria

In many developing countries like Nigeria, access to safe drinking water remains a major health challenge especially in Enugu state, because tap water is unavailable or unreliable. The majority of households store water for their daily use. However, this practice can lead to microbial contamination of the water, mostly when containers are not clean or covered properly. This study investigates how household water storage practices connect with water contamination and the spread of diarrhea cases in the South East region of Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted across 268 households in both urban and peri-urban communities in Enugu State. Structured questionnaires were used to assess and collect data on reported diarrhea cases and storage habits, while membrane filtration techniques were used to analyze sample water to check for total Coliforms and E. coli. Out of the 268 households that were surveyed, 88% use stored water for drinking purposes, 58% relied on public taps, 62% used wide-mouthed plastic buckets, and 25% used containers with spigots. 36% clean their containers regularly, 27% covered their containers with tight-fitting lids. 46% reported at least one case of diarrhea in the past two weeks. 77% had E. coli, 29% reported no illness. 72% of water samples tested positive for total coliforms, and 48% were contaminated with E. coli. Salmonella spp. were isolated from 15% of the samples, and Shigella spp. from 8%. This research highlights the importance of how household water is handled; it showed that even water from a good source can be contaminated if not managed well. It contributes to public health by drawing attention to how household water storage, including improved infrastructure, helps in keeping water safe. Our findings, despite its limitation by Cross-sectional design and the use of self-reported health data, offer insight that can guide improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) strategies and public health campaigns focused on reducing diarrhea cases through safer water storage.