Azuonwu Obioma, Azuonwu Testimonies Chikanka, Nwizug Wereloobari Loveth
In most rural communities, water is consumed without testing its potability and the major sources of water apart from rainfall are surface and river water; in some cases, borehole water. Water samples from surface, river, well and borehole water in different Communities in Khana Local government area was randomly collected and bacteriological analysis was carried out on them. The results showed that the least microbial load was from that of borehole water which had an average microbial load of 1.78 × 103 while river water had the highest microbial load with a mean count of 5.48 × 104. Surface water, however, had the highest total coliform (42.6/100 mL) and faecal coliform count (14.8/100 mL) while borehole water had the least total coliform (4.6/100 mL) and faecal coliform (0) count. Isolation and identification of the isolates showed that Bacillus spp was the most isolated with an occurrence of 7 (23.3%). Other organisms isolated included Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella spp, Salmonella spp, Enterobacter spp, Streptococcus spp, Proteus spp and Escherichia coli. Most of these organisms are gram negative microorganisms and are usually associated with gastrointestinal illness. Proper treatment and surveillance of these water sources should therefore be carried out regularly to prevent public health issues that could be implicated from such unwholesome practice of drinking non-potable water
