ABSTRACT
Water is an essential natural resource for sustainability of life on earth. The aim of this study is to evaluate the bacteriological quality and safety of the two major streams in Ihitte Uboma LGA; Nze stream and Agudibia stream. A total of 6 Samples were collected during the sampling period. Point 1 (P1) which was the upstream, point 2 (P2) which was midstream, point 3, (P3) which was the downstream. Samples for bacteriological analysis were collected into sterile clean glass bottles and were labeled before sample collection. Collected samples were transported immediately to the laboratory for bacteriological examinations. The bacteria isolated according to morphological and biochemical characteristics include: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus Proteus sp and Bacillus species. The total viable count of water samples collected from upstream point ranged from 1.2 x104 to 9.0 x 103cfu/ml, Samples collected from Stream 2 ranged from 1.6 x 102 to 2.4 x 103cfu/ml. The incidence occurrence of the isolates revealed that E.coli and Bacillus spp had the highest incidence occurrence while Proteus sp and Staphylococcus aureus had the lowest incidence occurrence. The Most Probable Number of samples, Nze stream (Stream 1) had MPN values (180+) beyond the recommended range. While the MPN of the second stream (Agudibia stream) and control sample was within the acceptable range (3 and 0 respectively). Conclusively, the microbial qualities of the evaluated Nze stream water was averagely poor, and are certainly not fit for human consumption. From the results, Agudibia stream can be used for drinking and other domestic purposes while Nze stream did not meet the criteria. Water from both streams must be processed adequately before usuage.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Table of Contents v
Lists of Tables vii
Abstract
viii
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 Introduction
1
1.1 Aim
and Objectives 4
CHAPTER
TWO
2.0
Literature Review 5
2.1 Water 5
2.2
Water Quality 8
2.3 Water Quality Changes 10
2.4 Water Quality Challenges 11
2.5 Biological Indicators of Water Quality 12
2.6 Environmental Significance in Water
Quality 12
CHAPTER
THREE
3.0 Materials
and Methods 15
3.1 Study Area And Sampling 15
3.2
Collection of Water Samples 15
3.3
Media Preparation 15
3.4
Microbiological Methods 16
3.4.1 Most
Probable Number (MPN) 16
3.4.2 Total
Viable Plate Count 17
3.5 Identification of Isolates 17
3.5.1
Gram Staining 17
3.5.2 Biochemical
Tests 18
3.5.2.1
Catalase test 18
3.5.2.2 Coagulase test 18
3.5.2.3 Citrate Test 18
3.5.2.4
Motility, Indole, Urease Test (MIU) 19
3.5.2.5 Triple Sugar iron test 19
3.5.2.6
Oxidase Test 20
3.6
Determination Of Some Physical Properties 20
3.8 Presentation and Analysts Of Results 20
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Results 21
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0
Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendation 29
5.1 Discussion
29
5.2 Conclusion 32
5.3 Recommendation 32
References 33
LIST OF TABLES
Table Title Page
1
Source, type and coding
of samples 22
2
Gram
staining and Morphological Characteristics of the Isolates 23
3
Biochemical Identification
of Isolates 24
4
Viable plate count 25
5
Incidence occurrence of
isolates 26
6
Thermotolerant coliform
(Eijkman’s test) isolated 27
7
Most Probable Number of
samples 28
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Streams are vital and vulnerable freshwater systems that are
critical for the sustenance of all life. However, the declining quality of the
water in these systems threatens their sustainability and is therefore a cause
for concern. Streams are waterways of strategic importance across the world,
providing main water resources for domestic, industrial and agricultural
purposes (Farah, 2002). The maintenance of healthy aquatic ecosystem is
depended on the physicochemical properties and biological diversity. A regular
monitoring of water bodies would not only prevent the outbreak of diseases and
occurrence of hazards but would check the water from further deterioration.
Bacteriological assessment particularly for coliforms, the indicators of contamination
by faecal matters is therefore routinely carried out to ascertain the quality
and portability of water to ensure prevention of further dissemination of
pathogens (Afiukwa et al., 2010).
One of the most important
factors of water pollution is the microbial contamination especially with
pathogenic microorganisms. Enteric pathogens are typically responsible for waterborne
sickness (Berry et al., 2006).Contamination
of water is a serious environmental problem as it adversely affects the human
health and the biodiversity in the aquatic ecosystem. The provision of good
quality household drinking water is often regarded as an important means of
improving health (Moyo et al.,2004). According
to World Health Organisation (WHO,1992), there were estimated four billion
cases of diarrhoea and 2.2 million death annually. The consumption of unsafe
water has been implicated as one of the major causes of this disease. Most
gradual deterioration of water quality is as a result of increase in human
population and urbanization (Brenner et
al., 2008).
As water pollution gets serious, houses in the urban area started
to equip with a treating system. People are concerned with the presence of
pollutants such as heavy metals and toxic chemicals in their daily drinking water.
The primary objective of drinking water from Streams in microbiology is to
prevent waterborne diseases and this can be achieved through proper water
treatment, control practices and monitoring of their effectiveness. Ideally,
specific detection of the various waterborne pathogens which includes various
species of bacteria, viruses and protozoa would be the most direct approach in
determining portability but this would be too tedious, time consuming and
expensive (Domenech-Sanchez et al.,
2008). Potable water should be examined for microbiological and physiochemical
quality. WHO (1993) has recommended that increased emphasis be placed on home
water treatment. A number of authors have reported a statistically significant
deterioration in the microbiological quality of water between the source and
point of use in the home. (Edberg et al.,
2000). Drinking water from most communities and municipalities is obtained from
surface sources such as streams, Streams and lakes. Such natural water sources
are likely to be polluted with domestic waste, agricultural waste and
industrial waste. The efficiency of current techniques in detecting waterborne
pathogens is often very low, primarily due to low levels of these organisms in
water. However detection does not always translate into risks as some strains
of the same species are more pathogenic than others and current detection
methods cannot easily discriminate between pathogenic and non-pathogenic
subpopulations. Although culture techniques for isolation is nonselective thus
allowing nontarget organisms to proliferate in numbers
that over grow the pathogens. Viral pathogens are fastidious in their growth
requirements and grow only in special tissue cultures that are expensive and
often difficult to maintain (Emejor, 2010). The use of indicator bacteria such
as faecal coliforms (FC) and faecal streptococci (FS) for assessment of faecal
pollution and possible water quality deterioration in freshwater sources is
widely used (APHA, 1995). Currently coliforms and Escherichia coli are of great importance among bacterial indicators
used in water quality definition and health risk (Chao et al., 2003).
Water
is the most vital element among the natural resources; it is the most
indispensable need for existence of all living things. Its decreasing
availability in terms of quality and quantity has been a major public health concern
in Africa, particularly in Nigeria(WHO, 2004; Daniel et al., 2003).Water fit for consumption is called drinking water or
potable water (Egberongbe et al.,2010). According to a recent UNICEF
report, about 80 million people in Asia andAfrica are living without access to
safe water. Consequently, this has caused many peopleto suffer from various
diseases (Ezeugwunne et al., 2009).
In developing countries such as Nigeria, most
of the rural communities lack access to potable water supply and rely mainly on
river and stream sources for their household use and other purposes (Garba et al., 2010).Many water sources in
developing countries are unhealthy because they contain harmful physical,
chemical and biological agents. Unfortunately, many of the available water sources
are not potable without some form of treatment which is seldom or not available
in most rural settings which expose the rural populace to water borne diseases (Geldrich
et al., 1991). The major proportion of
all water quality degradation worldwide is due to anthropogenic causes (Ibe and
Okplenye, 2005). In some rural areas in Nigeria, domestic wastes, sewage and
faeces are being discharged into streams which also serve as their water
sources for daily needs. When the load of organic matter or wastes is too heavy,
the self-purification power of the stream are unable to remove these materials added
and there will be pollution of these water sources which can be dangerous to human
and the environment as a whole(Kudryavtseva, 1972). These multiple sources of
contamination are compounded by limited environmental awareness in rural areas
(Lehloesa and Muyima,2004). The microbiological quality of water is of a great
primary importance, and the monitoring of bacterial indicators such as total
coliform and thermotolerance coliforms should be given the highest priority. Microbial
indicators have been used world wide to indicate if human wastes have contaminated
water body. Microbes typically utilized are those that are found in elevated concentrated
in human faecal coliform, Escherichia coli and enterococci (Leclerc
et al., 2001). An additional
indicator, Clostridium perfringes can be used for monitoring stream water
quality (Lemo, 2002). The outbreaks of diarrhoea or gastroenteritis in rural
communities have all been attributed tothe consumption of water of poor
microbial quality (Eckner, 1998). It is therefore not anoption but an imperative
to critically monitor the quality of water supply in rural areas in order to
further highlight their despicable water supply situation and to provide the impetus
for sustainable government intervention(McFeters et al., 1993).
1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The
aim of this study is to evaluate the bacteriological quality and safety of the
two major streams in Ihitte Uboma LGA; Nze stream and Agudibia stream.
The
objectives are:
1. To
use the most probable number method and determine the presence of coliform
organisms in the two streams.
2. To
determine the total viable counts of the two water sources
3. Also to determine some common physical
properties of both streams.
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