Abstract
A total of ten soil samples were collected from four different dump sites in Port Harcourt Metropolis. The samples were examined for temperature, pH, total heterotrophic bacterial and fungal counts. The mean temperature values of the soils ranged from 27 to 28°C while the mean pH values ranged from 6.5 to 7.8. The total heterotrophic bacterial population ranged from 2.4 × 107 to 1.2 × 108 cfu/g while total fungal population ranged from 4.8 × 106 to 2.3 × 107 cfu/g. The bacteria population isolated from the waste dump sites were: Bacillus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species while the fungi included Aspergillus, Fusarium, Mucor, Penicillium and Saccharomyces species. The results showed that there was significant difference at 0.05 confidence limits between the pH levels at R(Ra:R1,R2; Rb:R3,R4) and U ( Ua:U1,U2; Ub: U3,U4). There was no significant difference at 0.05 confidence limits between the temperature levels, total heterotrophic bacterial and fungal counts at sites R and U. In dump sites R and U, there were no significant differences between the bacterial and fungal counts obtained in both sites. Key words: Dump sites, Port Harcourt metropolis, bacteria and fungi.  
Highlights
IntroductionWaste ( referred to as rubbish, trash, refuse, garbage, or junk) can be described as unwanted or unusable materials (Wikipedia, 2009)
Waste can be described as unwanted or unusable materials (Wikipedia, 2009)
When waste is dumped on land, microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi proliferate using the components of the waste materials as source of nutrient for growth as well as degrading the organic materials in the waste
Summary
Waste ( referred to as rubbish, trash, refuse, garbage, or junk) can be described as unwanted or unusable materials (Wikipedia, 2009). Wastes may be generated during the extraction of raw materials, the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products, the consumption of final products, and other human activities. There is increase in solid waste production making garbage pollution a serious problem (Khupe, 1996; Yaliang, 1996). Waste management in developing countries is usually equated with land disposal or discharge into water bodies (Cilinskis and Zaloksnis, 1996). This method of waste management is unscientific; a nuisance to the public, the resultant effect is pollution.
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