Abstract
The water used during handling and processing of milk products can be potential sources of microbial contamination with possible negative consequences on food safety. Especially, the water used in keeping the hygiene of milking and milk storage utensils is crucial to keep the quality and safety of the products. Therefore, the current study was designed to assess the bacteriological quality of water used for cleaning milking and milk storage equipment in smallholder dairy production in Hawassa and its surroundings. A total of 79 water samples were collected: 26 from milk collecting houses in Hawassa and 53 from selected smallholder dairy farms (Hawassa = 14, Arsi Negele = 29 and Yirgalem = 10). Out of the total samples, 18 samples were collected directly from pipe and 61 from storage containers (46 from narrow opening and 15 from wide opening containers). The overall prevalence of E. coli exceeding zero CFU/ml was 39.2 %. From analyzed samples, high prevalence of positive samples for E. coli was found in water samples taken from wide opening containers (66.7 %). A number of bacteria were isolated and presumptively identified which include Bacillus sp. 6.3 % (n = 5), Citrobacter sp. 1.3 %(n = 1), E. coli 39.2 % (n = 31), Enterobacter sp. 2.5 % (n = 2), Klebisella sp. 7.6 % (n = 6), Micrococcus sp. 6.3 % (n = 5), Pseudomonas sp. 6.3 % (n = 5), Staphylococcus aureus 6.3 % (n = 5), Staphylococcus epidermidis 13.9 % (n = 11) and Streptococcus sp. 1.3 % (n = 1). The bacteriological quality of water especially, water stored in household storage containers in present study area was found to be contaminated with different bacteria indicating potential food safety problem and health risk to the society. In this respect, people handling water should be educated on its proper handling and the risk of contamination during storage. To minimize contamination, materials with narrow mouth and lid should be used. Further study is recommended on the relationship between the bacteriological quality of water and the behavior of water users.
Highlights
Inadequate access to safe drinking water is one of the major health problems in many developing countries and responsible for the high morbidity and mortality of people (Ashbolt 2004)
In majority of the cases, the highest detection of bacteria was found in water samples obtained from wide opening containers
Water samples collected directly from pipe was superior in its bacteriological quality compared to the water samples stored containers indicating post-supply contamination
Summary
Inadequate access to safe drinking water is one of the major health problems in many developing countries and responsible for the high morbidity and mortality of people (Ashbolt 2004). Amenu et al SpringerPlus (2016) 5:1195 improve its microbiological safety (O’Connor 1995). In this regard, it is recommended that water used in cleaning of equipment and processing of milk should have quality standard equivalent to drinking water (Terplan 1980). In most developing countries like Ethiopia, smallholder dairy farmers and informal milk retailers may not have access to water source of such a good quality or if so, contamination can be a problem during handling or storage of water (Amenu 2013). The microbiological quality of water destined for washing and cleansing of milk equipment can be seriously affected by the handling and storage conditions
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