The main purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and sanitation practices of operators and personnel in water refilling station (WRS) and its water quality in providing safe drinking water supply in the municipality of Jolo, Sulu. Knowledge of operators and personnel was measured using a self-administered questionnaire, while observational checklist was used for their practices on site. Three-week collection series of water samples from each WRS on their respective raw water, product water from faucet and container were sent to ZCMC Water Laboratory. A total of 12 water refilling stations, 12 water operators and 33 personnel were included in this study. Results showed that majority of water operators and personnel have sufficient knowledge to operate WRS with mean scores of 11 and 10.61 respectively. A satisfactory rating was achieved by only 4 (33.33%) of the water operators and 8 (24.24%) of the personnel. The 8 water operators and 25 personnel of all the WRS failed due to conditions that have gained the most number of item deficiencies. Those that ranked 1st include quality of refilled/ product water; containers, caps and dispensers, washing and sanitizing, storage of water, construction of premises, hand washing facilities and personnel requirements; followed by transport of product water (2nd), and room/facility area allocation (3rd). Protection of product water and miscellaneous requirements ranked as 4th respectively There was a moderate positive correlation between knowledge and sanitation practices, r = 0.591, p<0.000 with knowledge on sanitation explaining 35% of the variation on sanitation practices thus improving their knowledge may improve their sanitation practices. The quality of water produced by the 12 WRS was determined through Bacteriological, Physical and Chemical water analyses. Bacteriological examination for Total coliform and E. coli revealed positive for all WRS’s raw water, 6 out of 12 product water in the faucet after purification process, and all WRS product water in the filled container. Presence of these bacteriological parameters means failure either in the water quality or unsanitary practices of the personnel. Water quality from the 12 WRS is not suitable for drinking until proper and effective water treatment is done. In addition, physical and chemical analyses result of raw water showed that all 12 WRS raw and product waters were below the standard levels of residual chlorine. This may mean insufficient treatment of raw water and sanitizing on the containers of product water. In which 4 and 6 of the 12 WRS, product water showed above the standard levels of pH TDS respectively which mean ineffective treatment by the reverse osmosis machine. With these findings, it was evident that the deficiencies and failures of the WRS to comply with the standard will significantly expose the public to risks of acquiring waterborne diseases brought about by the contaminated water. Outbreaks and epidemics will likely occur in areas supplied by these stations and therefore affect the productivity of its people unless proper interventions will be made. The outcome of the study may also reflect the poor implementation of the guidelines by local health authorities that oversee these facilities

Keyword: Water refilling station operators and personnel Water quality Knowledge and sanitation practices