HYGIENE PRACTICES

Public health and illness prevention depend on having access to clean drinking water andpracticing good hygiene. To determine their effects on community health, the Upper Missioncommunity in Benin City's water quality and cleanliness practices were examined. Onehundred households chosen by multistage sampling were included in the community-basedcross-sectional design. To investigate water sources, storage procedures, treatment techniques, and hygiene practices, structured questionnaires were given out. Additionally, physicochemical and microbiological analyses were performed on 30 drinking water samplesobtained from river sources, sachet water, and boreholes. 89% of households have accesstowater within 100 meters of their homes, with sachet water (52%) and borehole water (41%)serving as the main sources of drinking water. There is a significant gap between accessibilityand safety practices, as 80% of individuals did not purify the water before drinking it. With pH values ranging from 4.6 to 8.0, total dissolved solids between 24 and 136 milligramsper liter, and electrical conductivity between 44 and 219 microsiemens per centimeter, thephysicochemical parameters mostly satisfied WHO requirements. River water had the highest contamination (mean: 202.4×10⁰ colony-forming units per milliliter), followed by boreholewater (79.7×10⁰ colony-forming units per milliliter) and sachet water (43.2×10⁰ colonyforming units per milliliter), according to microbiological analysis, whichfoundheterotrophic bacterial counts ranging from 26×10⁰ to 235×10⁰ colony-forming units permilliliter). River water (mean: 42.6×10⁰ colony-forming units per milliliter) andsomeborehole samples (mean: 24.9×10⁰ colony-forming units per milliliter) had total coliforms, but sachet water did not. Only one sample of river water had Escherichia coli. Although the infrastructure is good, there are notable shortcomings in environmental hygiene, handwashing with soap (34%), and water treatment, with 38% of residences locatedclosetowaste disposal sites. There is an immediate need for improved waste management systems, borehole maintenance, targeted health education initiatives, and increased water qualitymonitoring.