Abstract
In Nigeria, lack of good potable water has always been a major problem; hence many homes have wells as a source of water for household uses. The objectives of this study are to determine the predominant sources (human or livestock) of fecal pollution in wells and concentrations of fecal bacteria and pathogens in well water. Thirty Five samples of well water in different places in Igboora community were analyzed for Total Aerobic Bacteria Counts (TABC) and Total Coliform Counts (TCC). The location and distances of wells from latrines were determined using the Global Positioning System (GPS) device and a tape rule respectively. All the wells sampled had high mean total of TABC (5.79±0.51 log CFU/mL) and TCC (2.77±0.42 log CFU/mL) which ranged for TABC (1.40±0.16 to 9.20±0.49 log CFU/mL) and TCC (1.02±0.13 to 4.43±0.77 log CFU/mL) counts which exceeded the international standard of 0 per 100 mL of potable water. TABC increased with a decrease in distance between the wells and latrines though not significant (p<0.05). The average distance (9.21±1.77m) of wells from the latrines was below the limit (15.24 m or 50 ft) set by United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). According to bacteroidales measurements, fecal contaminations in the 32 well samples were from anthropogenic source. Keywords: Water borne diseases, fecal source, E.coli, Latrine effluent, Igboora.
Highlights
In Nigeria, inadequate supply of pipe borne water has been a major problem of many houses many homes have wells sited around the house at a distance from their latrine. 52% of Nigerians do not have access to improved drinking water supply (Orebiyi et al, 2010)
The values for microbial counts obtained were ranging from 1.40±0.16 to 9.20±0.49 log CFU/mL for total aerobic bacteria count and from 1.02±0.13 to 4.43±0.77 log CFU/mL for Total coliform count
In virtually all the wells sampled, the Total aerobic bacteria counts were higher than the Total coliform counts
Summary
In Nigeria, inadequate supply of pipe borne water has been a major problem of many houses many homes have wells sited around the house at a distance from their latrine. 52% of Nigerians do not have access to improved drinking water supply (Orebiyi et al, 2010). In Nigeria, inadequate supply of pipe borne water has been a major problem of many houses many homes have wells sited around the house at a distance from their latrine. 52% of Nigerians do not have access to improved drinking water supply (Orebiyi et al, 2010). The scarcity of pipe borne water has made communities to find alternative sources of water, in which well water is included. Wells are a common ground water source readily explored to meet community water requirement or make up the short fall 2013; Ogwueleka, 2014; Olukanni et al, 2014a) These wells serve as major source of water for household uses (drinking, cooking, washing etc.). Some wells have no cover/lids, they are dirty and unkempt making the water unfit for use, resulting in water borne diseases
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