Investigating Perceptions of Well Water Quality in Rural Alberta
Date
2019-07-17
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Abstract
Adequate access to safe drinking water is important in maintaining public health. Over 400,000 rural Albertans use well water for domestic purposes. The current policy on the management of private water wells requires well owners be responsible for their own water well management and well water quality. Therefore, the decision of when to test well water, what to test for, and what treatments to use to safeguard or improve water quality, lies with well owners. The purpose of this thesis was to 1. Describe the perceptions, knowledge, and beliefs rural Albertan residents have of well water quality and whether they associate livestock farming with water well contamination. 2. Identify the barriers faced by water well owners with respect to implementing well water stewardship practices. 3. Identify factors associated with water well stewardship practices (i.e., testing and treatment). A mixed methods study was completed which included a systematic review, interviews with well owners, a questionnaire survey of well owners, and collection of well water samples to assess for microbiological indicators of drinking water contamination. Thematic analyses were used to understand factors shaping perceptions of well water quality and identify factors influencing water testing behaviour as viewed through the lens of the Health Belief Model. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were used to understand the characteristics of well owners, well use, well stewardship practices, as well as investigate associations between independent variables and well stewardship practices. Barriers to treatment included a lack of awareness of what treatments to use. Increased education and awareness may be important to increase the adoption of well stewardship practices. Several factors were found to influence perceptions of well water quality. Furthermore, well owners described issues such as low perceived susceptibility to water well contamination and logistical barriers when submitting water samples for testing.
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Keywords
Mixed methods, Perceptions, Public Health, Risk, Well Water, Well Stewardship
Citation
Munene, A. (2019). Investigating Perceptions of Well Water Quality in Rural Alberta (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.