Bacterial Removal Efficiency of Crude Oil Polluted Water Using Corn Husk and Charcoal as Filter Material

Abstract

Clean drinking water has become a distinguishing factor between developed countries and developing or underdeveloped countries so much so that it is fast becoming the most sought-after initiatives in the public health sector globally. Many people in underdeveloped nations still lack access to safe drinking water, they rely on surrounding rivers and streams for their water supply. Polluted water is not safe for drinking and use in homes for domestic activities as they may pose health risks. It is therefore important to consider effective ways to purify water for domestic use in communities that do not have access to treated water. Microorganisms are key contaminants in unsafe water sources and be of natural or human origin. The frequency of bacterial isolate occurrence showed that the most prevalent were Staphylococcus species (12.0 %), Aeromonas species (10 %), Klebsiella species (9.0 %), Clostridium species and Enterobacter species (8.0 %), while the lowest were Corynebacterium and Bacillus species (4 %). The bacteriological quality of the polluted water before and after filtration was analysed to evaluate the efficacy of charcoal and corn husk filters in removing pathogenic isolates. The total heterotrophic bacterial counts (THB) of the contaminated water reduced by 87.0 % and 88.7 %, hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial counts (HUB) reduced by 87.3 % and 95.4 %, faecal coliforms reduced by 94.5 % and 95.8 %, Salmonella shigella counts reduced by 69.2 % and 76.0 % for corn husk filter and charcoal filter respectively after filtration with the organic materials. Charcoal filter showed more promise in reducing bacterial isolates than corn husk.