BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF AMURO IBERE RIVER IN IKWUANO L.G.A

ABSTRACT

Rivers 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. Rivers are waterways of strategic importance across the world, providing main water resources for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. The aim of the study is to evaluate the bacteriological bacteriological examination of Amuro ibere river in Ikwuano, Local Government Area of Abia State. A total of 6 Samples were collected during the sampling period with each point sampled six times. The Sampling points were. 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 bottles were labeled before sample collection. Collected samples were transported immediately to the laboratory for bacteriological examinations. The media and reagents used for bacteriological analysis of water were weighed out and prepared according to manufacturers’ specification. Nutrient agar (NA), MacConkey agar (MA), Eosin methylene blue agar (EMBA). The spread plate method was used. Ten-fold serial dilution of each water sample was prepared aseptically in physiological saline of 102 up to 103 and 0.1 ml aliquot of each dilution was plated on Nutrient agar plates in triplicate. All incubations were conducted at 37°C for 24 hrs under aerobic conditions. After incubation and several biochemical and Morphological characteristics were carried out, Seven (7) bacterial genera was observed which include Escherichia coli, Shigella sp, Salmonella sp, Staphylococcus aureus Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella sp,  and Bacillus. The total viable count of water samples from Amuro ibere river revealed that water samples collected from upstream point ranged from 1.9 x105 to 1.8 x 106, Samples collected from Midstream point ranged 2.9 x 105 to 2.5 x 106 while samples collected from Downstream point ranged from 3.9 x105 to 1.9 x 106.  The percentage occurrence of isolates from Amuro ibere river shows that  Escherichia coli (39%), had the highest percentage occurrence followed by  Salmonella sp (17%) , Staphylococcus aureus (11%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11%), Bacillus (11%) while Shigella sp and Klebsiella sp (6%) had the least percentage occurrence respectively. Conclusively, the microbial qualities of the evaluated stream waters were averagely poor, and are certainly not fit for human consumption as they are of low quality threshold. This may be due to direct contamination by animal and human excreta and other anthropogenic activities such as swimming, washing of clothes, farming etc., and thus, require further purification to ensure their suitability for human utility.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page                                                                                                                                i

Certification                                                                                                                            ii

Dedication                                                                                                                               iii

Acknowledgements                                                                                                                iv

Table of Contents                                                                                                                   v

Lists of Tables                                                                                                                        viii

Abstract                                                                                                                                   x

CHAPTER ONE

1.0  Introduction                                                                                                                1

1.1 Aim and Objectives                                                                                                          4

1.2 Objectives                                                                                                                         4

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review                                                                                                                         5

2.1 Water Quality                                                                                                                   8

2.2 Water Quality Changes                                                                                          10

2.3 Water Quality Challenges                                                                            11

2.4 Biological Indicators of Water Quality                                                                    12

2.5 Environmental Significance in Water Quality                                                        12

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Materials and Methods                                                                                                     15

3.1 Sample Collections                                                                                                           15

3.2 Media Used                                                                                                                       15

3.3 Sterilization                                                                                                                      15

3.4 Bacteriological Examination                                                                                            16

3.5 Isolation and Enumeration of Bacterial Isolates                                                               16

3.5.1 Gram Staining                                                                                                                16

3.5.2 Motility Test                                                                                                                 17

3.6 Biochemical Test                                                                                                              17

3.6.1 Catalase Test                                                                                                                  17

3.6.2 Coagulase Test                                                                                                               18

3.6.3 Citrate Test                                                                                                                    18

3.6.4 Oxidase Test                                                                                                                  18

3.6.5 Indole Test                                                                                                                     19

3.6.6 Urease Test                                                                                                                    19

3.6.7 Methyl Red Test                                                                                                            19

3.6.8 Voges-proskaeur Test                                                                                                    20

3.6.9 Sugar Fermentation Test                                                                                               20

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0       Results                                                                                                                        21       

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0       Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendation                                                          25       

5.1       Discussion                                                                                                                   25

5.2       Conclusion                                                                                                                  27

5.3       Recommendation                                                                                                       27

References                                                                                                                             

LIST OF TABLES

Table                                  Title                                               Page

1         Morphology and Biochemical Characteristics of isolates                                      22

2         Total Viable Count of Bacterial isolates from River Water samples                     23

3         Percentage Occurrence of Bacterial Isolates from River water Samples                     24

CHAPTER ONE

1.0  INTRODUCTION

Rivers 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. Rivers 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 (Farah, 2002).

 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 (Bitton, 1994).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 (Ho and Hui, 2001).

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 rivers 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 (Simango et al., 1992). 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. (Simango et al., 1992; Welch et al., 2000). Drinking water from most communities and municipalities is obtained from surface sources such as streams, rivers 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 non target 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 (Moyo et al., 2004). 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 (Schlegel, 2002).

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; Saravanan and Peter, 2009).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 and Africa are living without access to safe water. Consequently, this has caused many people to suffer from various diseases (Tanwir et al.,2003).

 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 (Banwo, 2006).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(Oketola et al., 2006).

The major proportion of all water quality degradation worldwide is due to anthropogenic causes (Scott et al.,2003). 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(Adetokunbo and Gilles, 2003). 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 thermo tolerance

coliforms should be given the highest priority. Microbial indicators have been used worldwide 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 (Brooks etal.,2006). An additional indicator, Clostridium perfringes can be used for monitoring stream water quality (Egberongbe et al.,2010). The outbreaks of diarrhoea or gastroenteritis in rural communities have all been attributed to the consumption of water of poor microbial quality (Ashbolt, 2004). It is therefore not an option 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(Gucker et al., 2006).

1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to assess the bacteriological quality of water from Ariam River in Ikwuano, Abia State.

1.2 OBJECTIVES

1. To determine coliform bacteria associated with the water samples.

2. To isolate microorganisms associated with water samples.

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