Comparative Evaluation of the Bacteriological and Physicochemical Quality of Water from Borehole, Tapwater and Rivers in Eziama/Mgbaja Ossah, Abia State.

Abstract

Diseases caused by contamination of water consumption and poor hygiene are among the leading causes of diarrhoea especially in children, and immune-compromised individuals. Samples of borehole, river and public tap water were collected from Eziama/Mgbaja Ossah Ibeku, Abia State, Nigeria and analysed physico-chemically, bacteriologically using standard methods to ascertain the quality of water consumed by the community. Each sample was inoculated onto nutrient and MacConkey agar plates using the spread plate technique. The physicochemical parameters of the water sources were within required WHO standard for water expect chloride that was of higher values. The bacteriological analyses revealed that the highest total coliform counts of 6.1x10³cfu/mL was observed in borehole water sample while the least counts of 3.2x10³cfu/mL was in public tap water. The total viable counts for all the water samples were generally high exceeding the limit of 1.0x10²cfu/mL for water. Bacteria counts values obtained from this study did not meet the international standard as they were higher than World Health Organization Standard of zero per 100mL. The isolated organisms were identified to be Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus species, Enterococcus species, and Salmonella species. The heavy metals values obtained were within the accepted limit of water standard in all the various water samples investigated. The t-test result reveals significant difference between the quality of the water sources in the study area. From the findings, it is recommended that water supply in the area should be properly treated and handled before human consumption and other domestic purposes.