Water is essential to life, the public health significance of water quality cannot be over emphasized. In Nigeria, majority of people living along the course of water bodies still source and drink from the rivers and streams. There is, therefore, the need to determine the load of contamination and effect of pH and salinity on the decay rate of enteric bacteria in water samples from River Owena, Owena, Nigeria in order to develop adequate water quality management. Water samples from River Owena were collected from three representative monitoring points (inflow, middle course and the outflow) in Owena, Nigeria. The load of enteric bacteria in the water samples were determined using membrane filtration technique. The physicochemical characteristics of the water samples were determined using standard methods. The incidence and prevalence of gastroenteritis in the community around River Owena was determined using a structured questionnaire. Microcosm studies were used to evaluate the decay rate of enteric bacteria at varying salinity and pH. Canonical correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the load of enteric bacteria and the incidence and prevalence of gastroenteritis in the community around River Owena. The incidence and prevalence of gastroenteritis in the community around River Owena were estimated to be 0.75 and 0.51 respectively. Escherichia coli had positive relationships with incidence (r=0.76) and prevalence (r=0.65). Similarly, faecal coliforms had positive relationships with incidence (r=0.82) and prevalence of gastroenteritis (r=0.67), while enterococci showed positive relationship with incidence (r=0.59) and prevalence of gastroenteritis (r=0.87). Increase in pH and salinity increased the decay rate of enteric bacteria thereby reducing the growth of enteric bacteria, the optimum pH for the growth and survival of enteric bacteria ranged between pH 5.0 and pH 7.0. The optimum salinity for the growth of enteric bacteria isolated in water samples from River Owena ranged between 10% and 50% salinity. Findings revealed high levels of faecal contamination at the different representative monitoring points on River Owena, pH and salinity influenced the load and decay rate of enteric bacteria in water from River Owena essential in water safety plans and water management practices.
In this study, the effects of different steeping methods on the microbial quality of ‘ogi’ produced from Sorghum bicolor (Linn.) grains were carried out. The sorghum grains were divided into four parts; the first part (Sample A) was steeped with cold water at 30+ 2oC for 72 h and washed with water before milling, the second part (Sample B) was steeped with cold water at 30+2oC for 72 h but was not washed before milling, the third part (Sample C) was steeped with hot water at 30+2oC for 24 h and washed before milling, while the fourth part (Sample D) was steeped with hot water at 30+2oC for 24 h and was not washed before milling. The processed raw ‘ogi’ samples were subjected to standard microbiological techniques to enumerate the microorganisms present. The highest bacterial count of 3.5 x 103cfu/ml was observed in sample B, the highest fungal count of 2.5 x 104 sfu/ml was observed in sample B, while sample C yields the lowest bacterial count of 8.0 x 102 cfu/ml and fungal count of 4.0 x102 sfu/ml. Good hygienic conditions during the processing of the ‘ogi’ must also be employed to reduce the chances of microbial contamination.
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