Quality of Rainwater Used Within Communities in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

The risk of microbiological and physicochemical contamination of rainwater especially during collection and storage has long been a persistent challenge. This study was carried out to assess the quality of rainwater used within communities in Calabar. Rainwater samples were aseptically collected from three locations within Calabar; Atimbo, Etta Agbo and Calabar South, the samples were analysed for total heterotrophic bacterial (THB), total fungi (TF), and total coliform (TC). The average total heterotrophic bacterial counts were 1.22x106cfu/ml for samples from Atimbo, 1.01x106cfu/ml in samples from Calabar South and 1.56x106cfu/ml in the samples from Etta Agbo. The total fungal counts produced insignificant results in the three samples analysed. The highest total coliform count was obtained in rainwater harvested from Calabar South (2.05x106cfu/ml), followed by Etta Agbo (1.92x106cfu/ml) while Atimbo had the lowest count of 1.66x106cfu/ml. The physicochemical characteristics of the three samples analysed indicate that the rain water was physically not suitable for drinking and other domestic and industrial use, but chemically fit for adequate utilisation.