title: Perception of drinking water safety and factors influencing acceptance and sustainability of a water quality intervention in rural southern India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acceptance and long-term sustainability of water quality interventions are pivotal to realizing continued health benefits. However, there is limited research attempting to understand the factors that influence compliance to or adoption of such interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight focus group discussions with parents of young children--including compliant and not compliant households participating in an intervention study, and three key-informant interviews with village headmen were conducted between April and May 2014 to understand perceptions on the effects of unsafe water on health, household drinking water treatment practices, and the factors influencing acceptance and sustainability of an ongoing water quality intervention in a rural population of southern India.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ability to recognize health benefits from the intervention, ease of access to water distribution centers and the willingness to pay for intervention maintenance were factors facilitating acceptance and sustainability of the water quality intervention. On the other hand, faulty perceptions on water treatment, lack of knowledge about health hazards associated with drinking unsafe water, false sense of protection from locally available water, resistance to change in taste or odor of water and a lack of support from male members of the household were important factors impeding acceptance and long term use of the intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlights the need to effectively involve communities at important stages of implementation for long term success of water quality interventions. Timely research on the factors influencing uptake of water quality interventions prior to implementation will ensure greater acceptance and sustainability of such interventions in low income settings.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, TN, 632004, India. elysium28@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mark Rohit
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Christian Medical College, Vellore, TN, 632002, India. guru@cmcvellore.ac.in.
authors.forename: Guru
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nagarajan
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, TN, 632004, India. rsarkar@cmcvellore.ac.in.
authors.forename: Rajiv
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore, TN, 632002, India. venkat@cmcvellore.ac.in.
authors.forename: Venkata Raghava
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, TN, 632004, India. gkang@cmcvellore.ac.in.
authors.forename: Gagandeep
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Society for Applied Studies, No 14, Natteri Krishnamachari Street, Krishna Nagar, Vellore, 632001, Tamilnadu, India. vinoharbalraj@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vinohar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Balraj
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D060766:Drinking Water; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012449:Safety; D012938:Social Perception; D060753:Water Quality; D014881:Water Supply; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water