Water quality, sanitation, and hygiene among the tribal community residing in Jawadhi hills, Tamilnadu: An observational study from Southern India

OBJECTIVES: To assess the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practice among the tribal population of Tamil Nadu, India and to determine the physiochemical and bacteriological quality of drinking water at the principal source and at the households along with the household-level determinants of WASH practices. METHODS: A door-to-door survey was conducted in 150 households, distributed across six villages of Jawadhi hills, a tribal area in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Water samples were collected from the principal sources and a subset of households for assessing water quality. A composite scoring was formulated to determine the overall WASH practices. RESULTS: Overall, a poor WASH score (≤4) was found in 103 (68.7%; 95% CI: 60.7, 75.6) households. The majority (96.7%) of the household water samples showed the presence of fecal coliforms. Poor WASH score was uniformly distributed across the villages. Low per capita income (≤1000 INR) was strongly associated with the poor WASH score (Adjusted OR 2.4; 95% CI: 1.04, 5.7). The per capita income had a strong negative association with the high fecal coliform count (Adjusted OR 5.07; 95% CI: 1.08, 23.74). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that WASH-related practices among the tribal population of Tamil Nadu is not acceptable. The lack of administrative function and poor economic conditions are the likely causes attributed to the poor WASH conditions and drinking water quality. Urgent action from the stakeholders is the need of the hour to improve the water quality and living standards of such marginalized populations.