Microbial and Physicochemical Quality of Harvested Rain Water in Eku and Abraka Metropolis

Abstract

The study design was aimed at assessing the microbial as well as physicochemical qualities of harvested rain- water in Abraka and Eku metropolis. Thirty (30) samples, five (5) each were randomly collected from different environs within Abraka and Eku metropolis between the months of February and March, 2020. Standard microbiological procedures and biochemical techniques were conducted for the isolation, characterization and identification of bacterial isolates. Fungal isolations were done by microscopic and macroscopic examinations. The result findings of the total bacterial counts was observed to range from 3.7 ± 0.34 to 5.7 ± 0.32 ×103CFU/ml for sampled water obtained from Okomuku and Okurekpo respectively. Also, the counts of coliform and fungi ranged from 1.0± 0.42 to 4.4 ± 0.26 × 103 CFU/ml; 2.6 ± 0.18 to 4.7 ± 0.26 × 103CFU/ml respectively. Ten (10)species of bacteria were identified which includes: Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., Klebsiella sp., Shigella sp., Staphylococcus sp., Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp., Proteus sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Enterococcus sp. While the identified fungi include: Rhizopus sp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, and Penicillium sp. The result of percentage prevalence of bacterial species showed that Escherichia coli (22.2%) had the highest occurrence, while Proteus sp. (7.9%) and Enterococcus sp. (7.9%) were the least dominant isolates. Whereas, in fungal isolation, Aspergillus fumigatus (25%) was the most dominant compared to Rhizopus sp. (21.4%) and Penicillum sp. (17.8%) which followed in order of dominance. Virtually all antibiotics were observed to be susceptible to the Gram negative and positive bacterial isolates especially Ciprofloxacin (83%) and Chloramphenicol (100%). Results of the physicochemical properties and heavy metal ion compositions fell within the allowable limit set-up by the World Health Organization. However, the high contamination by microbes as revealed in the study could cause water-borne diseases and infections to consumers if not properly treated.