Namibia is a large country with a population slightly above 2 million of which 73% live in rural areas. It is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa with unpredictable rainfall patterns which occurbetween October and May. The CuvelaiEtosha Basin is a rural setting in which most people depend on ground water to circumvent water scarcity by the construction of hand-dug wells. Communities consumehand-dug well water throughout the year without; knowledge of its safety, and treatment prior to use.Hence, this study aimed at evaluating the seasonal safety and quality of hand-dug well water for humanconsumption. A 16S rRNA metagenomics study was conducted to explore the influence of season onthe human pathogenic bacterial species richness, diversity, evenness and abundance in the hand-dugwells. Bacterial pathogens were identified and analysis revealed no significant difference in speciesrichness and diversity, and a significant difference in species evenness and abundance between thewet and dry seasons. Hence, seasonality had an influence on human bacterial pathogens evenness andabundance but had no influence on species richness and diversity. In addition, the water in hand-dugwells of the CuvelaiEtosha Basin is not safe for consumption and domestic use unless sanitized. It isrecommended that efforts should be made to treat the water prior to use, and hand-dug wells shouldbe properly constructed to reduce contamination.

Keywords: Cuvelai etosha basin, Hand-dug well, Human bacterial pathogens, Metagenomics, Water