1Obikpo, L., 2Onyia, F. C., 1Offe, I. M., 1Ezeilo, C. M, 3Ezebialu, C., and *4Afunwa, R. A.
1Department of Biological Sciences, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu State, Nigeria
2Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
3Department of Applied Microbiology and Brewing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria
4Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra State, Nigeria
*Correspondence to: missruthus2000@yahoo.com; ra.afunwa@coou.edu.ng
Abstract:
Background: Water is a basic necessity used by humans for both domestic and industrial uses. Next to air, water is essential to life. It takes up about 71% of the earth’s surface. The objective of this study is to determine the bacteriological quality of well water in Enugu urban, Nigeria
Methodology: A total of 60 domestic wells were selected from Abakpa, Obiagu and Achara layouts in Engu urban, Nigeria by stratified random sampling method, with 20 wells selected from each area based on location of well sites and construction parameters. Water samples were collected from each well using a sterile 200ml plastic bottle for bacteriological analysis to estimate total bacteria count in colony forming unit (cfu)/ml, total coliform count in most probable number (mpn)/100ml, and faecal coliform count in most probable number (mpn)/100ml. Bacterial isolates were identified using Gram reaction and conventional biochemical tests including catalase and coagulase for Gram positive bacteria, and oxidase, citrate utilization, hydrogen sulfide, indole, urease, methyl red, Voges Proskauer, and sugar fermentation tests for Gram negative bacteria. Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) of each isolate was performed by the disk diffusion method against selected antibiotics including penicillin G (10μg), ciprofloxacin (5μg), streptomycin (10μg), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (20/10μg), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (25μg), and result interpreted using the European Committee for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) break points. Comparative statistics of the data was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with p<0.05 considered statistically significant. Continue reading “Bacteriological quality of community well water and public health concerns in Enugu urban, Nigeria”