ABSTRACT

Microbiological and Physicochemical analyses were carried out on the Okpulor-Umuobo River, an extension of the Aba River in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. The results obtained were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) standards for drinking and recreational water. Total viable count was by pour plate technique while Most Probable Number (MPN) counts were by the multiple tube fermentation technique. The water sample was found to harbour coliform organisms in numbers greater than the WHO standards for water with counts ranging from 1.3 x105± 0.28— 4.3 x105± 0.14 cfu/mi. The total aerobic plate counts were generally high exceeding the limit of 1.0 x 102 cfu/ml for water and this ranges from 4.6 x105± 0.14 -1.6 x106± 0.13 cfulml while the fungal count ranges from 3.7 x iO4 ± 0.28-6.8 x iO4± 0.14 cfulml. Seven bacterial isolates were obtained from the study and were identified as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus species, Salmonella species, Shigella species, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species. The fungal isolates were identified as Aspergillus species, Mucor species, Penicillium species and Rhizopus species. The physicochemical parameters which included temperature, total nitrogen, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) did not fall within the WHO standards values with mean values of 33.50°C ± 0.69, 55.82mg/l ± 0.36, 15.90mg/g ± 0.39, 23.85mg/i ± 0.58 and 5.27mg/i ± 0.23 respectively. However, parameters such as Turbidity (17.80 NTU) Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) (215.30mg/l) and Electrical Conductivity (EC) (51.49 ps/cm) were within the standard value without the detection of lead. These results indicate the unwholesomeness of the river for domestic and recreational activities. Hence, efforts should be made to treat the water before being used for the above mentioned purposes as well as creating awareness on the associated potential health risk. This would be a step towards the actualization of target 4A, 5A, 7B and 7C of the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations, which among others x advocate reducing mortality rates, fighting disease epidemic and that the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation should be halved by the year 2015.