Determination of bacteriological loads in borehole water

The proliferation of boreholes dug by individuals, private entities and the public in an attempt to overcome the problem of water scarcity has caused various communities in New Juabeng North and New Juabeng South to depend on borehole water as a reliable source of water for drinking and domestic purposes in Ghana. Unfortunately, the water is not well treated before it is used for drinking and there is no surveillance of bacteria in the water to ascertain its safety. Before usage In consideration of this fact, a study case was conducted to assess the bacteriological quality of borehole water in some communities in the area. Borehole water samples were aseptically collected from the various communities and the bacteriological assessment was carried out using standard microbiological methods which include determination of total coliform count, total faecal coliform count and total heterotrophic bacterial count. The total coliform counts of the water samples ranged from 1.3x102 to 1.3x104 CFUmL-1 while the total faecal coliform and total heterotrophic bacterial counts ranged from 1.3x102 to 5.8x104 CFUmL-1 and 1.1x102 to 8.7x104 CFUmL-1 respectively. The organisms isolated from the borehole water samples included Salmonella typhi, Shigella dysenteries, Staphylococci aureus, Vibrio cholera, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella sp and Escherichia coli. The total bacteria counts exceed the limit set by the World Health Organization for drinking and domestic purposes. Furthermore, the pathogenic organisms isolated from the water samples could have cause serious detrimental health problems in humans. Hence, the borehole water should be treated properly before usage and other preventive approaches should be adopted to minimize potential health risks associated with the use of the borehole water contaminated with bacterial.

Keywords: Microbes, Borehole water, Bacterial count, Media, Culture Technique.