Bacteriological Quality Assessment of Municipal Water Supply in Lokoja Metropolis

Abstract

One of the primary responsibilities of government is the provision of clean drinking water to its population. The major issue with water quality worldwide is the contamination of water supplies by microorganisms resulting in infection. Regardless of the source, water may be contaminated with microorganisms, organic matter, and other pollutants. Drinking water acts as a primary etiological agent for microbial diseases. Drinking contaminated water is mostly known to be the key cause of waterborne diseases. Water is indispensable for life considering the fact that it is an essential part of human nutrition. This study aimed at determining the possible contamination of municipal water in Lokoja metropolis at the source and along the chain of supply to the public for use. Water samples were collected from the source at Greater Lokoja Water Treatment Plant and 19 other samples at random from different locations within Lokoja metropolis reached by the water supply. Aliquots of each water sample was inoculated aseptically on MacConkey agar using the pour-plate method. Bacterial isolates were observed for morphological features and further subjected to Gram staining and various biochemical tests as well as antibiotics susceptibility test. A total of 29 bacterial isolates were recovered from the 20 water samples collected. The bacterial isolates included Klebsiella spp (20.6%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.2%), Escherichia coli (27.8%), Aeromonas spp (17.2%) and Salmonella spp (17.2%). All isolates were resistant to Cefuroxime and Oxacillin (100%), 45% of the isolates were resistant to both Ciprofloxacin and Nitrofuranton followed by Ofloxacin (31%), Cefixime (24%) while the lowest antibiotic suscepibility pattern was displayed against Pefloxacin (14%). However, all isolates were susceptible to Imipenem. The findings of this study reveals that municipal water supply is contaminated along the chain of supply thereby posing serious threat to the inhabitants particularly those using the water.