ABSTRACT

The work evaluated the microbiological and physicochemical properties of drinking water from different source in Umudike. A total of one hundred water samples, comprising of twenty samples each of rain water, borehole water, stream water, sachet water and bottled water where analyzed for physicochemical and microbiological qualities . The results obtained show that the temperatures of the water were more or less ambient (28.25°c to 29.70°c) while the turbidity was between 2.35NTU to 5.03 which all passed the minimum requirement. Also the total solids 17.99mg/L (bottled water) to 184.08mg/L (stream water), the dissolved solid 16.12mg/L (bottled water) to 140.23( stream water) and suspended solid  1.88mg/L (bottled water) to 69.90mg/L( stream water) were all within permissible limit. Chemical properties of the water shared significant varieties with ph in the range of 5.89(borehole water) to 6.69(bottled water) and hardness 8.08mg/L (bottled water) to 70.25mg/L (borehole water). The chemical content and the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) were all within permissible limits while nitrate (0.01 and 0.05mg/L) pass only in the packed water and fail (0.15mg/L to 3.29mg/L) and other waters. The bacteria load was higher in the stream water with mean value of 1.93x107cfu/mL while the bottled water had the least (1.03x102 cfu/mL). coliform count varies from zero in the bottled water to 11.05 cells/ 100mL in the stream water while in the borehole water, rain water and sachet had less than 1.0 cells/100mL. The bacteria flora show many different species with varying levels of occurrences ranging from 0% occurrences for the enterics (shigella and salmonella) in the packaged waters 90.0% for staphylococcus species in the open water. The presence of coliforms in the water called for public health concern on envisaged risks of water borne disease for the users of the waters.