Machakos chief health officer Dr Collins Sila has advised Machakos residents to treat or boil rain water before consumption to prevent water borne diseases.
Addressing residents in Machakos Town on Thursday, Sila said that many people assume rain water is pure and safe for drinking not knowing that its actually full of bacteria and parasites.
Sila said that many people are now depending on rain water for drinking following the heavy rains being experienced in the area.
He said rain water collected from roofs carries all the pathogens that were on the roof adding that water storage equipments do not provide any form of disinfection and so people should treat the water before drinking it.
"If only people could see how dirty their roofs were, they would take precautions before drinking rain water,” said Sila.
The officer advised residents to purify water using iodine and chlorine tablets that ate available in pharmacies.
He however urged residents to follow the given instructions to the later and check expiry dates.