Assessment of the potability of water sources in some rural communities in Ilorin East, Kwara, Nigeria

Abstract

Sources of water at Oke - Ose, Abantan and Idi - Igba communities in Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria were evaluated for potability. A total of 21 wells and 6 boreholes were sampled in these communities. The sanitary survey, total viable bacterial count, total coliform and faecal coliform counts as well as some physicochemical parameters of the water were assessed. The total viable bacterial counts of the well water and the borehole water ranged from 0.4 x 10² – 3.8 x 10² CFU/mL and 0.5 × 10² - 1.4 × 10² CFU/mL respectively. Furthermore, the range of total coliform counts of the well water and borehole water were 3 – 150 MPN/100ml and 3 – 28 MPN/100 mL respectively. Faecal coliform was not isolated in all the water samples. Only 50% and 42.9% of the boreholes and wells had sanitary score of less than 80%. All the water samples were within the limit of the physicochemical parameters allowed by Nigerian standard for drinking water quality (NSDWQ) for turbidity, total solid, dissolved solid, chloride, nitrate, and electrical conductivity. All the water samples did not meet up with the permissible limit of 100mg/l of sulphate. The bacteria isolated in this study include Budvicia aquatica, Enterobacter agglomerans, Myroides odoratus, Burkholderia cepacia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aeromonas hydrophila, Listeria sp. and Corynebacterium sp. It was concluded from this study that 19.0% of the wells water and 16.7% of the borehole water supplies satisfied bacteriological qualities of potable water. It is recommended that the resident of these communities need to be enlightened on the need for hygienic environment and measures of protecting their water supplies from contamination.