Evaluation of bacteriological and chemical quality of drinking water used in chicken house in Libya

Abstract

Water is a vital nutrient in poultry metabolism, which plays an important role in digestion, absorption of food, transportation of nutrients in the body and elimination of waste products via urine. The objective of this study was to investigate the physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters of water samples were collected from 35 broiler farms distributed in four districts (Qasar Bin Gheshir, Wadiarrabee, Zawia, and Zahra). In each farm, the samples were collected from the water source, the tank inside of chicken house and end of pipes. The samples were subjected to physical, chemical and microbial examination. The main investigated parameters were PH, total dissolved solid, Total Hardness, Calcium, Chloride, Nitrate, and total viable count of microbial load. Chemical analysis indicated that all chemical and physical parameters were higher than Maximum acceptable level, except TDS and magnesium in Qasr ben Gheshir and Wadi Al-Rabia regions, as well as PH in all regions. The bacteriological examination revealed that the coliform counts were 91% over the maximum acceptable level in all regions. Also, the results showed that significant difference between reservoir, tank and pipe with p value (<0.05) where the coliforms contamination in the pipe was more than in the tank and the reservoir. The results also showed that 50% of the samples were contamination with E. coli. Generally, the water collected from the different sources need more treatment to improve the drinking water quality especially for their microbial load.