ABSTRACT
Most regions of the developing Countries are experiencing shortage of potable water supply as improved water sources are only limited to urban areas. The high rate of contamination in our rural water sources is largely attributed to low level of personal hygiene, inadequate treatment facilities, untreated wastewater discharged in some water sources and environmental pollution that lower the wholesomeness of most rural water sources. This study therefore, was aimed to determine the occurrence of water borne pathogens in rural water sources in some communities in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. A total of 40 water samples were collected and 10 streams from each community were analyzed. The Communities includes: Ozuitem, Igbere, Ugwueke and Ezeukwu in Bende Local Government. The total viable counts, coliform counts and most probable number of bacteria in 100ml of water samples were determined. The isolation and identification of isolates was done using cultural, biochemical and molecular methods. The mean viable counts found in stream water samples across the four localities ranged between 7.7 x 106cfu/ml to 8.5 x 106cfu/ml, the coliform counts ranged between 4.7 x 104cfu/ml to 6.6 x 104cfu/ml while the most probable number of bacteria in 100ml of water sample respectively ranged between 12-22MPN/100ml. A total of fourteen bacterial species from different stream sources in Ozuitem, Ugwueke, Igbere and Ezeukwu villages within the period of study were isolated and identified. Eight isolates were identified to the molecular level using 16S rRNA.. From this study, the bacterial species isolated includes Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas putrefaciens, Vibrio azureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas xiamenensis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Enterobacter cloacae, Salmonella enteritidis, Serratia marcescens, Aeromonas caviae, Commomonas thioxydans, Alkaligenes faecalis and Citrobacter freundii. Aeromonas caviae was the most prevalent isolates with 20.0% occurrence in Ozuitem streams and 15.0% occurrence in Igbere streams while Vibrio azureus has the highest occurrence of 18.2% in Ezeukwu streams. Prevalence of isolates is followed closely by Proteus vulgaris with 16.7% and Enterobacter cloacae with 16.7%, respectively in Ozuitem streams. Ugwueke streams has the prevalence of Pseudomonas putrefaciens, Enterobacter cloacae, Salmonella enteritidis and Alkaligenes faecalis with 12.5% occurrence each. The presence of these bacteria in water for drinking (domestic) and swimming purposes is of public health significance since they could be pathogens of gastrointestinal water borne diseases.. Consistent monitoring of stream waters in the hinterland should be expanded beyond the scope of the most commonly associated water borne pathogens as other related pathogens which may not often be isolated by conventional media may be circulating within these localities.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table
of Contents vi
List
of Tables viii
List
of Figures ix
Abstract x
CHAPTER
1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 Statement of Problem 3
1.3 Justification of
the Study 3
1.4 Aim of the Study 4
1.5 Objectives of the Study 4
CHAPTER
2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 General View 5
2.2
Sources of Contamination 6
2.3 Some of the
Diseases Associated with Contamination of Water Sources 8
2.4
High
Level of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Aquatic Environment
that Causes Hazard
to Health 12
CHAPTER
3: MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1 Location of Study 16
3.2 Collection of Samples 16
3.3 Physicochemical and Heavy Metals Analysis 16
3.3.1 Physicochemical analysis 17
3.3.2 Heavy Metals Analysis 21
3.4 Microbiological analysis of water
samples 22
3.4.1 Culture
technique 22
3.4.2 Laboratory procedure for spread plate
method 23
3.4.3 Most probable number (MPN) test 23
3.4.4
Laboratory procedure for streak plate method 25
3.5
Characterization and Identification of Isolates 25
3.5.1 Motility test using hanging drop
preparation 25
3.5.2 Gram staining 25
3.5.3 Biochemical tests 26
3.5.4 Molecular identification 29
3.6 Phylogenetic Analysis 31
CHAPTER
4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1
Results 32
4.1.1
The Physicochemical Properties of the Streams 32
4.1.2
The Heavy Metal Composition of the Streams 44
4.1.3 Occurrence of Waterborne Pathogens in
Streams 46
4.1.4 Morphological and biochemical reactions of
the isolates 48
4.1.5 Molecular Characterization of the Isolates
from the Different
Streams 49
4.1.6
Percentage (%) occurrence of the isolates across the study locations
50
4.2 Discussion 54
CHAPTER
5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusion 61
5.2 Recommendations
62 References 63 Appendices
LIST
OF TABLES
4.1 Mean physicochemical properties of
the stream 35
4.2 Mean heavy metal composition of the streams 45
4.3
Mean bacterial load of water
samples from the streams 47
4.4 Frequency of occurrence of the Isolates across
the Study Locations 51
4.5 Percentage
(%) occurrence of the isolates across the study locations 52
LIST OF FIGURES
4.1 Mean biological oxygen demand (BOD) of
the streams 36
4.2 Mean chemical oxygen demand (COD) of
the streams 37
4.3 Mean
turbidity of the streams 38
4.4 Mean pH of the streams 39
4.5 Mean
calcium content of the streams 40
4.6 Mean magnesium content of the streams 41
4.7 Mean potassium content of the streams. 42
4.8 Mean chloride content of the streams. 43
4.9 Phylogenetic tree showing the
evolutionary distance between the
bacterial isolates from
the streams 53
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
Water according to Onyango
et al. (2018) is an essential constituent
of life. Israr et al. (2017) stated
that water is fundamental to life of man, plants, and
other creatures. Most concerns regarding the environmental quality have been
focused on water due to the fact that water is important in maintaining the human
health and that of the ecosystem. Fresh water is a resource essential for
agriculture, industry and even human existence but inadequate quantity and low
quality will make sustainable development impossible (Kumar, 1997; Mahananda et al., 2010)
Safe drinking water according to Mohsin et al. (2013) is a basic need for good
health and it is also a basic right of humans. Vyas et al. (2015) stated that most rural areas depend on stream water
as their major sources of drinking water. Adekunle, (2008); Megha et al. (2015) in their work
stated that with the rapid growth in population, urbanization, industrialization
and other developmental activities, groundwater resources have become
vulnerable to depletion and quality degradation. In developing countries the
drinking water quality is continuously being contaminated and hazardous for
human use due to high growth in population, expansion in industries, wastewater
and chemical effluents disposal into canals and other water sources (Mohsin et al., 2013).
The environmental factor “water” and the
problem of water borne diseases, especially diarrhoeal diseases as stated by Megha
et al. (2015) based on the reports of
other researchers are linked up via two different mechanisms; which are supply
of contaminated water and or lack of water for personal hygiene. A report has
it that acute microbial diarrhoeal
diseases are a
major public health
problem in developing
countries and that people
affected by diarrhoeal
diseases are those
with the lowest
financial resources and
poorest hygienic facilities (Cabral, 2010).
Polluted drinking water causes many
diseases such as diarrhea, vomiting, gastroenteritis, dysentery, kidney
problems as found in Thatta, Badin and Thardistricts of Southern Sindh,
Pakistan (Memon et al., 2011). Rivers
convey water and minerals to territories all around the earth which have a
significant influence on the hydrological cycle and serve as drainage outlets
for runoff. Consequently, Unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitary
conditions are associated with infectious diseases such as cholera, diarrhea,
dysentery, and polio which significantly affect human health. Therefore, frequent
assessment of water sources is important to safeguard public health and the
environment (Lin et al., 2010).
Both
faecal coliform and faecal streptococci bacteria are present in the
gastrointestinal tract of humans and other warm-blooded animals. The presence
of these bacteria in natural water indicates degradation by human or animal
waste and may be related to septic-tank waste (Megha et al., 2015). The most susceptible people to water borne illnesses
according to Gerba, (1996); Megha et al.
(2015) are children, the elderly, pregnant women and individuals with
compromised immune system making water-borne illnesses one of the five leading
causes of death among children under age five.
Megha et
al. (2015) stated that availability of clean water and adequate sanitation
facilities are of prime importance for limiting diarrheal diseases. History has
it that efforts has been made to ensure access to safe drinking and food
processing water on the community based water sources (Fisher et al., 2015; Israr et al., 2017).
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Contaminated water
remains a problem in rural areas that rely on private drinking water supplies.
People using contaminated water are prone to different kinds of water borne
diseases such as cholera, typhoid and paratyphoid.
The unhygienic practices carried out in
our rural communities’ sources of water in Abia State is a major concern as the
human excreta might contain viable cells of bacteria of public health
importance which when deposited inside our water sources will serve as a
breeding ground for these bacteria of public health importance to quickly
escalate beyond control (Mimi and Salman,
2008).
The high prevalence of contaminated ground
water in Ozuitem, Igbere, Ugwueke and Ezeukwu due to unhygienic practices is a
cause for concern to determine the health effect and thus quantify the burden
of illness.
1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
Access to treated and
safe water, food hygiene and adequate sanitation are important and are the main
issues to be taken into consideration in control measures. In an attempt to
avoid this worse-case scenario, a massive response needs to be mounted by the Government
to sensitize the general public on the dangers and causes of this disease and
the possible ways to avoid the outbreak.
1.4 AIM OF THE
STUDY
This study was aimed to determine the
occurrence of water borne pathogens in rural water sources in some communities
in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.
1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are to:
1.
determine the
physicochemical properties of the streams under study;
2. determine
the occurrence of waterborne pathogens in streams found in some rural
communities under study;
3. determine
the molecular characteristics of isolates from the different streams under
study; and
4. determine
the relatedness of the isolates from the different streams.
Click “DOWNLOAD NOW” below to get the complete Projects
FOR QUICK HELP CHAT WITH US NOW!
+(234) 0814 780 1594
Buyers has the right to create
dispute within seven (7) days of purchase for 100% refund request when
you experience issue with the file received.
Dispute can only be created when
you receive a corrupt file, a wrong file or irregularities in the table of
contents and content of the file you received.
ProjectShelve.com shall either
provide the appropriate file within 48hrs or
send refund excluding your bank transaction charges. Term and
Conditions are applied.
Buyers are expected to confirm
that the material you are paying for is available on our website
ProjectShelve.com and you have selected the right material, you have also gone
through the preliminary pages and it interests you before payment. DO NOT MAKE
BANK PAYMENT IF YOUR TOPIC IS NOT ON THE WEBSITE.
In case of payment for a
material not available on ProjectShelve.com, the management of
ProjectShelve.com has the right to keep your money until you send a topic that
is available on our website within 48 hours.
You cannot change topic after
receiving material of the topic you ordered and paid for.
Login To Comment