Preliminary Studies on the Bacteriological and Physicochemical Qualities of Selected Surface Drinking Water in Selected Rural Communities of Ondo North Senatorial District, Ondo State

Abstract

The present study evaluated the quality of surface water samples used for drinking in selected communities of Ondo State Northern Senatorial region. The physiochemical parameters analyzed range were; pH, (7.2–7.8), temperature (22.8–29.3°C) conductivity (59–118 μs/cm), total dissolved solids (38–147 mg/L), total suspended solids (74–153 mg/L), total hardness (11.3–36.4 mg/L), biological oxygen demand (3.8–10.1 mg/L), nitrate (2.94–19.34 mg/L), phosphate (0.54–1.65 mg/L). The results were compared with WHO standards in which they were all within the permissible limit except turbidity (65%). The total bacterial count performed on the surface water ranged between 63  103 cfu/ml and 129  103 cfu/ml, total coliform ranged between 12  103 cfu/ml and 32  103 cfu/ml, the total enterococcus count ranged between 00–14  103 cfu/ml and total salmonella count of range 07–23  103 cfu/ml. The counts were higher than the WHO limits. A total of 2,410 isolates were counted and the pure cultures were subjected to gram staining and biochemical tests and the results were compared with those of taxa. A total of 14 bacteria genera were identified and their percentage occurrence were as follows; Proteus sp., (5.0%), E. coli (13.3%), Klebsiella sp., (14.1%), Enterococcus sp., (5.1%), Streptococcus sp., (5.5%), Pseudomonas sp., (11.9%), Citrobacter sp., (5.4%), Streptococcus sp., (8.9%), Bacillus sp., (6.9%), Staphylococcus sp., (7.8%), Serratia sp., (3.0%), Micrococcus sp., (4.9%), Salmonella sp., (2.8%), Alcaligen sp., (1.05%) and Shigella sp. The presence of these organisms in the water samples could pose a health threat to the consumer, therefore proper treatment before consumption is required.
Keywords: Physicochemical, bacteriological, surface water, permissible limit, drinking

Cite this Article

Ibrahim T.A., Ugbokodo-Emanuel O.M, Orungbgemi O.O. Preliminary Studies on the Bacteriological and Physicochemical Qualities of Selected Surface Drinking Water in Selected Rural Communities of Ondo North Senatorial District, Ondo State. Research & Reviews: Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2018; 7(3):
20–27p.