ABSTRACT
One hundred and twenty (120) roof-collected rainwater samples in six domestic cistern
sites in the suburbs of Benin City, southern Nigeria, were investigated in a cross-sectional
survey to determine the parasitological quality. Seventeen (14.2%) rainwater samples
analysed were contaminated with parasites and exceeded the acceptable limit of the WHO
for safe drinking water. Site environment had a significant effect on the parasitological
quality of rainwater samples. The degree of cleanliness of roof catchment surfaces,
gutters and cisterns or storage tanks differed from one cistern site to another and the
prevalence of positive samples for parasites’ contamination varied from 5% to 25%.
Rainwater samples from semi-urban cistern sites recorded 70.6% positivity of parasites’
contamination while those from rural sites had 29.4%. The use of various unhygienic
fetching containers to draw water from cisterns had a significant detrimental effect on
the parasitological quality of stored rainwater. Higher parasites’ contamination was
observed from water samples obtained using fetching containers (64.7%) than that
obtained directly from cisterns (35.3%). Eighteen species of parasites were isolated and
identified during the study. These were: Entamoeba histolytica, E. coli, Iodamoeba
buetschlii, Endolimax nana, Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria fowleri, Giardia intestinalis,
Pentatrichomonas hominis, Chilomastix mesnili, Cryptosporidium spp., Eimeria spp.,
Cyclospora spp. (Protozoa); Fasciola hepatica, Hymenolepis nana, H. diminuta
(Helminths); Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus
(Arthropoda). Overall, the results from this study suggest that roof-collected rainwater
stored in cisterns in the suburbs of Benin City, provided potable supplies of relatively
poor parasitological quality. It is proffered that adequate post-cistern treatment devices
such as filteration, disinfection, chlorination and boiling are necessary to eliminate or
prevent parasites’ contamination. Further research is advised to determine the health
risks associated with the consumption of untreated stored rainwater in the study area.
KEYWORDS:Parasitological quality, Roof-collected rainwater, Cistern, contamination, Treatment
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