Modelling the influence of short-term climate variability on drinking water quality in tropical developing countries: A case study in Tanzania

Highlights: • Drinking water and climate were sampled over 20 months in three Tanzanian regions. • Modelling quantified the impact of heavy rain on increasing contamination. • Climate and source type explained half the variability in faecal contamination. • Improved water sources are most climate resilient against faecal contamination. Climate change is expected to increase the prevalence of water-borne diseases especially in developing countries. Climate-resilient drinking water supplies are critical to protect communities from faecal contamination and thus against increasing disease risks. However, no quantitative assessment exists for the impacts of short-term climate variability on faecal contamination at different drinking water sources in developing countries, while existing understanding remains largely conceptual. This critical gap limits the ability to predict drinking water quality under climate change or to recommend climate-resilient water sources for vulnerable communities. This study aims to provide such quantitative understanding by investigating the relationships between faecal contamination and short-term climate variability across different types of water sources. We collected a novel dataset with over 20 months' monitoring of weather, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and total coliforms, at 233 different water sources in three climatically different regions in Tanzania. We then took a rigorous statistical analysis with Bayesian hierarchical models, to relate both contamination occurrence and amount to climate variability. The model results explained the temporal variability in drinking water faecal contamination using climate predictors, and also revealed the climate sensitivity of faecal contamination for individual water sources. We found that: a) short-term climate variability and baseline contamination levels can explain about half the observed variability in faecal contamination (R² ≥ 0.44); b) increased contamination was most consistently related to recent heavy rainfall and high temperature across different water sources; c) unimproved water sources such as the unprotected dug wells have substantially higher climate sensitivity. Based on these results, we can expect substantial increases in drinking water contamination risks across tropical Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asian developing countries under a warmer climate, which highlight the urgent need of protecting vulnerable communities from the severe climate impacts.