TITLE:
Microbial Assay of Otamiri River and Its Sediments in Parts of Owerri
AUTHORS:
Victor Inumidun Fagorite, Cosmas Ahamefula Ahiarakwem, Sabinus Ikechukwu Ibeneme, Ekeoma Sandra Chinemelu, Judith Ifeanyi Ukwajiunor, Chidimma Maria Abiahu, John Olalekan Poopola
KEYWORDS:
Coliforms, E. coli, Bacteria, Otamiri River, Sediments and Chlorination
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.7 No.8,
August
19,
2019
ABSTRACT:
The aim of the study was to analyse and identify
microbial constituents in the water and sediment samples with comparison of the
River to World Health Organisation (WHO, 2011) standard for drinking water and Federal Ministry of Environment (FME,
2006) and their public health implications with respect to water quality. The
microbial assay of Otamiri River was investigated using Standard plate count.
The result indicates that microbial constituents of Otamiri river obtained at
five strategic gauge stations designated SSWS1 (Egbu), SSWS2 (Timber Market), SSWS3 (FUTO), DOWNSTREAM (Mbirichi) and CONTROL
POINT with mean Total coliform Count of 3.0 × 102, 3.0 × 103, 4.1 × 103 and 1.0
× 103 cfu/100ml with control point value of 0.5 × 103 respectively. The mean Total Bacteria Count was 3.0 × 104, 2.1 × 103, 1.1 × 103 and 0.8
× 103 cfu/100ml respectively with
control point value of 0.2 × 103 while the mean values for Total E. coli Count were 1.1 × 102,
3.0 × 102, 4 × 103 and 2.0 × 103 cfu/100ml
with control point value of 0.2 × 103. The biochemical
identification of some organisms in water was Escherichia coli, Vibro spp., Klebsiella spp., and Entrobacteria spp. The result of stream
sediment samples indicates that the mean Total Bacterial Count was 3.5 × 104, 5.0 × 104, 6.5 × 104 and 2.0
× 104 cfu/g respectively with 1.5 × 102 as control point
value and that of Total Coliform Count was 6.5 × 103, 2.0 × 103,
2.5 × 103 and 0.8 × 103 cfu/g respectively with control
point value of 0.5 × 102. While for the Total E. coli Count, the
values were 2.5 × 103, 1.0 × 103, 2.5 × 103 and 0.5 × 105 cfu/g respective with control as 0.5 × 102.
Biochemical identification of some organisms in sediments includes: Escherichia coli, Vibro spp., Klebsiella spp., Entrobacteria spp. and Bacillus spp. The mean total bacterial count, total
coli form count and total E. coli, were not in conformity with both
World Health Organisation (WHO, 2011) Standard for drinking water and Federal Ministry of Environment (FME)
2006 standard for soil and thus constitute a threat to the River; these are
attributed to waste dumps and anthropogenic activities around the five
stations. The presence of bacteria in water can cause cholera, hepatitis,
dysentery and typhoid. The microbial constituents can be reduced by
chlorination.