Abstract

"Bacterial load in surface and bottom waters of, Kadinamkulam estuary, Trivandrum District was evaluated and the results are included in this paper. Bacterial components such as total viable count (TVC), total coliforms (TC), faecal coliforms (FC) and total enterobactreiacae (TE) and the presence of few potentially pathogenic forms like Vibrio cholerae (VC), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VP), Shigella spp. (SH), Salmonella spp.(SAL), Escherichia coli (E.coli), Faecal Streptococci (FS), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), Proteus and klebsiella spp.(PKL) were isolated and identified. Three regions (head, mid, end) were identified and water was collected from surface and bottom of the estuary and collections were made during all the three seasons. The microbiological analysis of both surface and bottom waters of the estuary was made. The distributional patterns of these bacteria were estimated. The results clearly revealed that Kadinamkulam estuary is highly polluted with enteric pathogenic and indicator bacteria. The highest mean TVC was (14280- 26810 cfu/ml) for mid estuary, (7985-12878 cfu/ml) for end estuary and (5201.25-6563 cfu/ml) for head estuary, were obtained for surface and bottom waters respectively, during the premonsoon season for Kadinamkulam estuary. "

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