Abstract

The increase in human populations together with their daily activities continues to have great influence on the quality of borehole water in Nigeria. In the current study, the major source of drinking water within Arkilla which is the one of the most growing community in Wamakko local government area of Sokoto state, were analyzed bacteriologically to ascertain their portability. A total of three water samples were collected from available boreholes within the major sites of Arkilla area namely; Arkilla layout, Arkilla federal low cost and Arkilla state low cost. They were analyzed for the total bacterial, coliform and faecal coliform counts using the standard plate count and most probable number (MPN) assays. Obtained results were compared with (WHO) standards for drinking water sources. The mean total bacterial count ranged from 5.4 ×10 4 to 3.7 ×10 6 cells/ ml, whereas, the total coliform counts of the water samples ranged from 12 -16 MPN/100 ml. The faecal coliform count ranged from 0-1 MPN/100 ml. General bacterial genera encountered were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. and Enterobacter spp. The bacterial load recovered from the studied borehole water samples were above the WHO standard for bacterial loads, and coliform content. Therefore, current results suggest that some of the borehole waters in Wamakko local government area, Nigeria; were not safe for drinking.

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