Microbial Quality of Well Water in Upland and Riverine Communities of Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

In this study, health risk assessment of well water from twelve communities grouped into upland and riverine in Rivers State was carried out in several categories such as uses of water, skin infections and health assessment via questionnaire distribution. Malaria was recorded to be the most common disease related to water. Furthermore, water samples were collected and analysed for physiochemical, biochemical and pathological characteristics. The average pH was 7.52, an indication of neutrality. Several species of bacterial and fungal organisms were isolated and identified. The total heterotrophic bacteria (THB), total fungal and total coliform counts ranged from 14.0x104cfu/ml to 100.0x104cfu/ml, 3.2x103cfu/ml to 7.4x103cfu/ml and 4 cfu/100 ml to ≥2400 cfu/100 ml respectively. Morphological and biochemical observations revealed the presence of the following organisms: Aeromonas sp., Alcaligenes sp., Bacillus sp. Citrobacter sp. E. coli, Enterobacter sp, Klebsiella sp., Micrococcus sp., Proteus sp., Salmonella sp., Sarcina sp., Shigella sp., Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp. and Vibrio sp. Staphylococcus sp. and Streptococcus sp. had the least percentage incidence of 8.3% while Vibrio sp had the most incidence of 100% in all the well water sampled. Well water is a source of pathogenic bacteria; hence, it is recommended that consistent water quality studies should be conducted on all the well water in the communities at least once in a year. Well water should also be treated before use to avoid the outbreak of water borne diseases.