Background: Drinking Water becomes contaminated with faecal matter due to inadequaternprotection of the source, unhygienic practices of the community at the source and household levelrnObjectives: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of knowledge and hygienicrnpractices of the community on bacteriological quality of drinking water at the source andrnpoint of usernMethods: A community- based cross-sectional study was conducted using intervieweradministeredrnquestionnaire, inspection check list to observe the condition of water sources,rnand bacteriological water quality examination of sources and household containers. The studyrnwas conducted during August 2006-June 2007 in Dobe Toga kebele of Shebedino wereda.rnSNNPR. Four hundred twenty households were selected using systematic random samplingrnmethod to assess the knowledge and hygienic practices of the community and gathered byrnhealth extension worker under strict supervision of principal investigator and supervisors.rnBacteriological examination of six protected springs and eighty four systematically selectedrnhousehold containers was carried out by using Oxfam DelAgua water testing kit.rnResults: Almost all of the springs were subjected to contamination of faecal coliform withrnhigh sanitary risk score. There is a significant variation between the bacteriological analysisrnof source water and household drinking water with a mean of 10.3 and 32.1CFU/ 100 ml ofrnwater samples respectively. Educational status was the only variables which was significantrnafter adjustment of other socio demographic, Knowledge and practices variables [AOR: 6.64,rn95% CI=1.028-42.927). However other variables like: types of household containers, washingrnof containers before transferring, methods of water withdrawal, duration of stored water andrncover of container during transportation and storage were significant in bivariate analysis butrnnot in multivariate analysis. This may be due to confounding effects of different variablesrnConclusion and Recommendation: Protected springs with high sanitary risk score werernhighly subjected to bacteriological contamination and its load of feacal coliform almostrntripled at household level, because of poor household management system. Proper protectionrnof water sources, regular monitoring of water quality and hygiene education on water andrnsanitation, are very important strategies to improve the bacteriological water quality.rnKey words: Knowledge, practice and bacteriological contamination