Despite significant progress in improving access to safe water globally, inadequate access remains a major public health concern in low- and middle-income countries. We collected data on the bacterial quality of stored drinking water and the quantity of water used domestically from 416 households in Uvira, Democratic Republic of the Congo. An indicator of tap water availability was constructed using invoices from 3685 georeferenced piped water connections. We examined how well this indicator predicts the probability that a household’s stored drinking water is contaminated with Escherichia coli, and the total amount of water used at home daily, accounting for distance from alternative surface water sources. Probability of drinking water contamination is predicted with good discrimination overall, and very good discrimination for poorer households. More than 80% of the households are predicted to store contaminated drinking water in areas closest to the rivers and with the worst tap water service, where river water is also the most likely reported source of drinking water. A model including household composition predicts nearly two-thirds of the variability in the reported quantity of water used daily at home. Households located near surface water and with a poor tap water service indicator are more likely to use water directly at the source. Our results provide valuable information that supports an ongoing large-scale investment in water supply infrastructure in Uvira designed to reduce the high burden of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases. This approach may be useful in other urban settings with limited water supply access.

尽管在改善全球获得安全水的渠道方面取得了重大进展，但在中低收入国家，获取水不足仍然是主要的公共卫生问题。我们从刚果民主共和国乌维拉（Uvira）的416户家庭中收集的饮用水的细菌质量和家庭用水量收集了数据。使用来自3685个地理参考管道水连接的发票构建了自来水可用性的指标。我们检查了该指标预测家庭存储的饮用水被大肠杆菌污染的可能性的程度，以及每天在家里使用的总水量，其中包括与替代地表水源之间的距离。总体而言，对饮用水污染的可能性进行了很好的区分，而对于较贫困的家庭则有很好的区分。预计将有80％以上的家庭将受污染的饮用水存储在最靠近河流且自来水服务最差的地区，那里的河水也是最有可能报告的饮用水来源。包含家庭组成的模型可预测所报告的每天在家中使用的水量中将有近三分之二的变化。位于地表水附近且自来水服务指标不佳的家庭更有可能直接在水源处使用水。我们的结果提供了有价值的信息，支持正在进行的对Uvira供水基础设施的大规模投资，旨在减少霍乱和其他腹泻疾病的高负担。这种方法在供水渠道有限的其他城市环境中可能很有用。