Drinking Water Quality and Public Health in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: Coliform Bacteria, Chemical Contaminants, and Health Status of Consumers
Table 1
Sample sources, characteristics, bacterial counts, and taste ratings.
Sample
Latitude
Longitude
Well type
Depth (1)
Ownership
Years in service
House-holds served
Total coliform (CFU/100 mL)
Fecal coliform (CFU/100 mL)
Taste rating average (2)
W01
27°43′15.96″N
85°18′9.1°8″E
Tube well
Shallow
Private
10
5
280
0
2.2
W02
27°43′35.04″N
85°18′16.41″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
50
30
10
290
2
W03
27°43′17.76″N
85°18′17.964″E
Tube well
Shallow
Private
9
8
320
30
2.6
W04
27°42′59.112″N
85°18′12.492″E
Tube well
Shallow
Private
5
7
210
370
1.6
W05
27°43′13.35″N
85°18′5.5″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
30
40
1,700
10
2.4
W06
27°42′12.10″N
85°18′19.12″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
100
90
120
100
2.2
W07
27°42′9.36″N
85°18′19.08″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
300
175
90
10
1.8
W08
27°42′16.16″N
85°18′19.08″E
Dug well
Surface
Public
100
100
1,700
100
2
W09
27°41′54.10″N
85°18′00.27″E
Dug well
Surface
Private
18
1
300
320
2
W10
27°42′26.07″N
85°18′26.98″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
100
60
1,110
0
2.4
W11
27°42′30.49″N
85°18′45.83″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
100
60
200
0
2.6
W12
27°42′30.69″N
85°21′12.27″E
Tube well
Deep
Public
6
500
1
0
2.8
W13
27°42′32.82″N
85°18′43.20″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
28
40
180
0
2.8
W14
27°42′37.22″N
85°18′37.30″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
100
55
1,700
3,025
2.8
W15
27°41′15.59″N
85°19′17.46″E
Tube well
Shallow
Private
30
15
20
0
2.4
W16
27°41′16.66″N
85°19′20.46″E
Tube well
Shallow
Private
20
6
380
40
1.8
W17
27°41′13.78″N
85°20′3.19″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
100
150
320
1,310
2.6
W18
27°41′44.88″N
85°20′15.88″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
300
90
1,700
30
2.6
W19
27°42′22.30″N
85°20′50.88″E
Tube well
Deep
Public
7
5
120
51
2
W20
27°40′12.39″N
85°21′4.13″E
Tube well
Shallow
Private
30
6
67
3,025
1.6
W21
27°42′48.40″N
85°19′11.12″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
120
100
32
72
1.8
W22
27°42′50.72″N
85°19′34.35″E
Tube well
Shallow
Public
6
100
57
45
2
W23
27°43′13.50″N
85°19′51.93″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
150
350
5
4
2.2
W24
27°43′15.47″N
85°20′7.90″E
Dug well
Surface
Private
16
7
75
54
2
W25
27°43′38.47″N
85°20′12.45″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
100
125
1,700
3
2.4
W26
27°43′44.99″N
85°20′16.89″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
10
200
1,700
0
2.2
W27
27°44′13.90″N
85°19′38.78″E
Tube well
Shallow
Private
12
7
1,700
1
1
W28
27°42′18.86″N
85°19′32.28″E
Dug well
Surface
Private
100
6
53
19
2.2
W29
27°41′34.39″N
85°19′52.61″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
50
100
1,700
14
2.4
W30
27°42′18.95″N
85°19′35″E
Tube well
Deep
Private
13
15
0
0
2.2
W31
27°42′14.54″N
85°18′12.64″E
Dug well
Surface
Private
15
3
560
110
3
W32
27°42′9.36″N
85°18′15.66″E
Stone spout
Surface
Public
200
90
1,680
3,020
3
W33
27°42′0.36″N
85°18′22.72″E
Dug well
Shallow
Public
100
55
1,000
980
2
W34
27°41′56.36″N
85°18′01.36″E
Dug well
Shallow
Public
48
7.5
240
190
1
W35
27°41′16.66″N
85°19′20.46″E
Tap water
Unknown
Public
10
8
0
0
2.9
Mean
68.4
74.8
600.9
377.8
2.2
Min
5
1
0
0
1
Max
300
500
1,700
3,025
3
(1) “Deep” was defined as 8 meters or more. Stone spouts were classified as “surface” sources, but the depth of these sources was unknown; only depths of dug wells and tube wells were used for statistical analyses. (2) For this table only, “poor” was assigned 1, “OK” 2, “Good” 3. These numerical taste scores were averaged across all responding households for each source only to provide concise summary results for this ordinal variable. Our formal statistical tests treated taste ratings as categorical variables rather than as numerical scores.
