Background: Water Quality monitoring is assessed widely using different indicators.rnSince there is no universal indicator that has been identified yet, assessing water qualityrnusing bacterial and viral indicators that would provide a more complete picture of waterrnquality.rnObjective: To assess the quality of drinking water using bacterial and cophages indicators.rnMethodology: A cross sectional prospective study was conducted on 218 drinking waterrnsamples of various sources collected from some regions of Ethiopia from February to Junern2016 to determine coliphages by the help of CB390 E. coli host using plaque assayrntechnique; most probable number for coliforms and pouring for hetrotrophic plate count atrnEthiopian Public Health Institute. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20 statistical package.rnResults: Hetrophilic bacteria, total and thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli and coliphagesrnwere detected in 72.9 %, 51.8%, 38.5%, 23.9% and 2.3 % of total water samplesrnrespectively. HPC > 1.0x102 Cfu/ml were noted in 41 (18.8%) water samples andrndetections of total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms and E. coli in 38 (17.4%), 24rn(11.0%) and 10 (4.6%) samples respectively and no detection of phages in chlorinatedrnwaters. While, HPC > 1.0x102 Cfu/ml were observed in 100 (45.9%) water samples andrndetections of total and thermotolerant coliforms, E.coli and coliphages in 75 (34.4%), 60rn(27.5%), 42 (19.3% ) and 5 (2.3%) samples respectively for the untreated waters. Rhornvalues between total coliphages and other indicators, HPC, total coliforms, thermotolerantrncoliforms were 0.202, 0.232 and 0.269 respectively. Total heterophilic plate count, totalrncoliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, E.coli and total coliphages were statistically differedrnby region; sources and treatment type (P value < 0.05). Coliphages were not detected in allrnwaters except rivers.rnConclusion: Majority of the waters, mainly untreated sources contained bacterial and viralrnindicators above the standard limits. This indicates that the sources are contaminated withrnenvironmental and fecal contaminants signifying poor quality of water and it is a potentialrnthreat for human health. Hence regular monitoring of water source using coliphages andrnother bacterial indicators should be a priority agenda by all stake holders.rnKeywords: Indicators, drinking water, water sources, coliforms, coliphage