Assessment of Total Coliform and Faecal Coliform in the Recreational Beach water and offshore water of Saint Martin Island, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract Saint Martin’s Island, being the only coral formed island in Bangladesh, a huge number of tourists visit the island during August until April (is not correct the months). The island is faced with extreme anthropogenic pressure due to the increasing number of tourists and improper management of the island infrastructure and surrounding ecosystem. The study was carried out to determine the clean and hygienic quality of recreational beach water (RBW) in front of the resorts and island’s offshore water (OW) by collecting water samples from fourteen locations during peak tourist season (February 2021) and non-tourist season (April 2021) in high tide condition. The membrane filtration method from the APHA standard was used to assess total coliform and faecal coliform in the water samples. Total coliform counts (>200 CFU/100 ml) were measured using Bangladeshi Department of Environment (DOE) standards, whereas faecal coliform counts (>100 CFU/100 ml) were measured using Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) standards. The study found a detrimental amount of E. Coli bacteria in the RBW and OW of the SMI. Total coliform levels in RBW from the island ranged from 15.33 to 657.22 CFU/100 ml, whereas faecal coliform levels varied from 1.37 to 272.31 CFU/100 ml. Total coliform levels varied from 26.34 to 1810.10 CFU/100 ml in the OW, while faecal coliform counts were 32.31 to 280.54 CFU/100 ml. During the tourist season, there was 63% more bacterial pollution than at any other time. The highest levels of total coliforms were present in the OW on the western shore of the island, freshwater wetland, and jetty ghat, while lesser numbers were detected in the RBW of resorts in the tourist season. The most faecal coliforms were found from offshore water on the western & eastern sides of the island, jetty ghat, and beach of Shayari resort in tourist season.