Appraisal on Microbiological Qualities of Wastewaters from Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Aims: This study investigates the microorganisms associated with hospital wastewaters collected from the Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria, during the wet and dry seasons. Study Design: This project was a cross sectional descriptive study in which subjects were hospital wastewater samples collected from the study site. Place and Duration of Study: the samples were analyzed in the department of microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. Methodology: Microbiological study of one hundred and twenty-six samples of hospital wastewater collected both during wet season and dry season periods in the years 2018 – 2019 from Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria, was carried out using conventional and molecular techniques respectively and the Global Positioning System (GPS) of each collection site was accurately recorded. Results: The microbial load of wet season samples collected from Offa Local Government Area ranged between 7±4,00 and 150±43.59 while that of dry season samples ranged between 10±2.00 x 105 and 225±67.27 (x 105cfu/ml). The bacteria isolated from wet season samples included; Alcaligenes faecalis, A. aquatilis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus with percentage occurrences of 65.4, 19.2 and 15.4 respectively, while bacteria isolated from dry season sample were A. faecalis and S. saprophyticus with percentages occurrence of 79.17 and 20.89, respectively. Conclusion: The findings from this study showed that hospital wastewater collected during dry season period had more bacterial load than that of wet season period. The findings also confirmed A. faecalis as the most predominant and prevailing bacteria inhabiting hospital wastewater. Thus, care must be taken by avoiding hospital wastewater from getting into the municipal water supply to prevent infections associated with A. faecalis, A. aquatilis and S. saprophyticus.