Assessment of the Microbiological Safety of Potable Water from Rural Settlements in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria

Access to quality drinking water is a major problem in rural settlements in Owo Local Government Area (L.G.A.) of Ondo State, Nigeria where surface and ground water sources (streams and wells) used for drinking are located near dump sites with faecal deposits. Therefore, bacteriological analysis were carried out on water samples (wells and streams) that served as major sources of potable water in 10 rural settlements of Owo (L.G.A), Ondo State Nigeria. Water samples were examined for total bacteria, total fecal coliform and total enterococci counts respectively. The isolates Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, Klebsiella aerogenes, Enterococci faecum, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were identified by various biochemical tests. Fecal coliforms were present in 70% of water samples (streams and wells) across the rural settlements while faecal enterococcal presence was also detected in 35% of the water samples from the same sample sources analyzed. The bacteriological loads of 65% of the sampled water from the different settlements were also found to be higher than the minimum value set for drinking water by W.H.O. Hence, proper health education and strict monitoring of sanitary practices in these settlements by local health officials is recommended for environmental biosaftey and containment of likely outbreaks in the nearest future.