Microbiological and Physico-chemical Analyses of Borehole Water Samples from Private Schools in Umuahia Metropolis, Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

The microbiological and physico-chemical analysis of randomly selected borehole waters used by staffs, students and pupils in twenty (20) private schools in Umuahia Abia State were carried out. Five bacteria: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus faecalis were isolated together with two fungal species: Aspergillus niger and Mucor racemosus. The Total Coliform plate count (TCPC) gave a range of 2.40x104-8.61x103 cfu/ml while the Total Heterotrophic plate count (THPC) was in the range of 3.82x104-9.22x103 cfu/ml. The faecal coliform was detected in 40.0% of the water samples. The physico-chemical parameters were within acceptable limit except for nitrate whose range fell between 10-53 mg/l above WHO guidelines of 10 mg/l. The results were compared with World Health Organization (WHO). The antimicrobial susceptibility test of the bacterial isolates showed varied responses. The findings showed that 16 of the borehole water samples from the 20 private schools met with WHO standards for drinking water while the water samples from four schools that did not meet with the WHO standards for drinking water and pose serious health threats to the pupils and teachers who drink the water. Thus, there is need to adopt constant treatment, analysis and servicing of these boreholes water sources for them to be safe for drinking.