Influence of Water Supply Conditions and Water Storage Containers on Aedes Mosquito Abundance in Makassar City, Indonesia

Background: High water demand accompanied with an unreliable piped water supply has forced urban residents to store water in containers. This situation potentially increases the number of breeding sites for mosquito vectors, such as Aedes.
Method: This study aimed to test the hypothesis if piped water connection availability, tap water use, and highly stable tap water supply can help minimize the use of water storage containers as well as the presence of larvae and number of adult Aedes mosquitoes. We conducted a community-based entomological survey of 343 households from 36 neighborhoods or Rukun Tetangga in Makassar City, Indonesia. Our model based on the hypothesis was tested by piecewise structural equation modeling analysis.
Results: A significant negative correlation was found between the stability of tap water supply and the number of water storage containers (−0.16, P < 0.05). Of the two categories of water storage containers, the unintentional water storage containers demonstrated a significantly (P < 0.001) higher effect on larval prevalence than the intentional one. Further, both container categories have significant indirect effects on the number of adult mosquitoes mediated by larval presence.
Conclusion: Improving water supply condition, particularly by assuring a stable tap water supply, could minimize the use of intentional water storage containers. Furthermore, a regular community-wide health education program that targets the elimination of unintentional water storage containers, which can be breeding grounds for Aedes larvae mosquitoes, is necessary.