Abstract
The study assessed the effect of seasonal variation on enteric bacteria population in water sources of six different communities between April 2017 and March 2018 using conventional microbiological methods. Bacteria belonging to the enteric family were primarily investigated in this study. The bacteriological analyses included total viable bacterial counts and phenotypic characterization. The bacteriological analyses showed that total heterotrophic counts ranged from 1.2 × 104 cfu/ml to 3.0 × 104 cfu/ml and from 1.0 × 104 cfu/ml to 2.0 × 104 cfu/ml during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. One hundred and twenty-two potentially pathogenic species of bacteria representing 10 genera were identified. These included Acinetobacter sp., Enterobacter sp., Escherichia coli, Shigella sp., Salmonella sp., and Proteus sp. Others are Serratia sp., Pseudomonas sp., Yersinia sp., and Klebsiella sp. Results showed that bacteria isolated (10) were higher during the rainy season while Klebsiella sp (24) and Enterobacter sp (30) were the predominant species. It was apparent that water sources investigated in this study were unsafe for domestic use due to the presence of these pathogenic bacteria. So, there is a need for the provision of safe water in these communities to prevent outbreaks of waterborne disease.
 Key words: microbial, potable water, rural dwellers, seasonal variation
Highlights
Water is essential for the sustenance of life and good health (Owamah, 2020)
Our study examined the enteric bacteria community present in surface water serving as a major source of domestic water in the selected rural communities
The presence of fecal contaminants observed in this study opposes the WHO guidelines on safe water, this finding is consistent with some previous studies such as Divya and Solomon (2015) and Neher et al (2020), water sources remain unpleasant for domestic use, ensuring the safety of water sources in this community should be highly prioritized (Divya and Solomon, 2016; WHO, 2017; Neher et al, 2020)
Summary
Water is essential for the sustenance of life and good health (Owamah, 2020). About 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe water and this has been linked to diarrhea, a major waterborne disease, which has been reported to cause 1.6 million attributable deaths and 74.4 million disability-adjusted life per annum, respectively (Jamal et al, 2020). Incidence of waterborne diseases consequentially arises with the presence of pathogens, of fecal origin, in water for consumption and other essential purposes (Jamal et al, 2020). Quantification of the true burden of waterborne diseases can be challenging, generating evidence on risks related to contamination of water sources can be a grim task in low and middle-income countries (Cissé, 2019)
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