The challenges of monitoring and controlling drinking-water quality in dispersed rural areas: a case study based on two settlements in the Colombian Caribbean.

Water quality surveillance systems are hardly applied in rural contexts. To provide a comprehensive analysis of drinking-water quality in two rural settlements in the Colombian Caribbean drinking-water samples were collected and analyzed from storage containers in 42 homes. The results of physical, chemical, and microbiological analyses of the water samples were compared with values established by the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, and Colombian regulations.

Factors associated with diarrheal disease in the rural Caribbean region of Colombia.

Objective: To analyze factors associated with diarrheal disease in the rural Caribbean region of Colombia.

Method: A cross-sectional study conducted in the rural area of the Cesar Department, Colombia, between November 2017 and June 2018. Self-reported cases of diarrheal disease were surveyed, and water samples from 42 households were collected and analyzed.