Comparative study of coliform contamination of public boreholes and pipe borne water systems in Bosso Town, North Central, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the coliform contamination of public boreholes and pipe borne water supplies within Bosso town. Twenty (20) water samples comprising of 10 each of borehole and pipe borne samples were aseptically collected from Bosso Town and analyzed using membrane filtration technique. The results obtained revealed that most (60.0%) of the water samples from the borehole sources except the samples from Rafin-Yashi, Maikunkele, Federal University of Technology (F.U.T) Minna, Tudun Fulani, contained coliform counts within 10cfu/100ml while all (100.0%) of the pipe borne water samples had coliform counts above 10cfu/100ml. The organisms isolated included species of Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Shigella, Clostridium, Bacillus, Yersinia and Serratia. E.coli had the highest frequency of occurrence (20%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (11.7%), Salmonella spp (11.7%), Shigella spp (11.7%), Clostridium spp (8.3), Streptococcus faecalis (8.3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.7%), Bacillus subtilis (6.7%), Streptococcus pyrogenes (5%), Klebsiella spp (3.3%), Proteus vulgaris (3.3%), Yersinia spp (1.7%) and Serratia spp (1.7%). This study revealed that pipe borne water and borehole water samples were contaminated in Bosso, with greater contamination observed with pipe borne water. This highlights the need for continuous assessment of the quality of public water supply and intervention measures to prevent outbreak of water-borne diseases in the area.

Keywords: Water; Boreholes; Pipe borne; Coliforms; Water-borne disease