Physicochemical and Bacteriological Quality Assessment of Selected Tap Water from Male and Female Hostels within Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, FCT

Abstract

Water is a resource that all living things require to survive. Water should have good physical, chemical and microbiological quality. The present study aimed to assess the quality of drinking water in Nile University male and female hostels which was determined by; examining the physicochemical parameters with reference to the standards set by the World Health organization (WHO) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON). Isolation and conventional identification of bacterial isolates using biochemical tests, the molecular identification and the antibiogram of bacteria isolates were carried out. A total of ten (10) water samples, five (5) samples each from the male and female hostels were aseptically collected in sterile sample bottles. Physicochemical parameters examined in each water sample were within the limits recommended with the exception of Total hardness in water samples (F1, F2, F3, F4, M1, M2, M5) and color in the water samples (F1, F2, F3, F5, M1, M2, M4, M5). Total bacterial counts in water samples ranged from (1.03 x 106 - 2.78 x 106 CFU/mL) in the female hostel water samples and ranged from 1.40 x 106 - 2.24 x 106 CFU/mL in the male hostel water samples. The total coliform counts in water samples ranged from 0 - 5.0 x 105 CFU/mL in the female hostel and 3.2 x 105 - 5.5 x 105 CFU/mL in the male hostel respectively. The probable organisms identified were various groups of microorganisms which included: Bacillus species, Staphylococcus species, Listeria species, Aeromonas species, Proteus species and Alcaligenes faecalis. However, the molecular identification of some of the bacterial isolates confirmed the presence of Alcaligenes faecalis in the sample F1, F2, M1 and M3. The most sensitive antibiotics against each bacterial isolates in water samples was Gentamicin at concentration of 10μg/mL, ciprofloxacin at concentration of 5μg/mL and nitrofurantoin at concentration of 10μg/mL. This study shows that ,although the organisms identified and confirmed are usually opportunistic and don’t necessarily cause major health hazards, the quality of the drinking water in the male and female hostels at Nile University of Nigeria needs to be managed better and treated more often to prevent the presence of any opportunistic microorganisms.