Physicochemical, bacteriological, and correlational evaluation of water obtained from boreholes and springs in a sub-urban community

Inadequate safe and portable water supply particularly in underdeveloped and developing countries has been associated with posing serious public health implications, especially as water related diseases continue to be a major health challenge in resource limited settings worldwide. Physicochemical and bacteriological parameters of borehole and spring water sources in a sub-urban community were assessed to determine their potability and correlation index. Twenty (20) water samples, 10 from boreholes and 10 from springs were randomly collected from different locations and analysed using standard microbiological and physicochemical methods. The results were compared with NIS and WHO standards for drinking water. Physicochemical parameters including; temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, total hardness, total dissolved solid, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Chloride, Sodium, Nitrate, Ammonium and Potassium were determined following the procedures prescribed by American Public Health Association Standard Method. Results obtained revealed that 99.3% of the analysed physicochemical parameters were within the maximum acceptable limits of NIS and WHO guidelines for drinking water except borehole iron concentration (0.52mg/L) and Manganese concentration (0.14mg/L). The total heterotrophic bacterial count (THB), total coliform count and faecal coliform count ranged from 1.6x10³cfu/100ml to 4.7x10³cfu/100 ml, 8.0cfu/100ml to 25cfu/ml, 0cfu/100ml to 14cfu/100ml respectively for boreholes, and 1.7x10³cfu/100ml to 4.6x10³cfu/100ml, 10cfu/100ml to 21cfu/100ml, 9cfu/100ml to 17cfu/100ml respectively for samples from spring water supply. Phenotypic characterization of the samples revealed the presence of certain organisms with pathogenic potentials such as Staphylococcus aureus 27.5%, followed by E. coli 19.6%, P. aeruginosa 11.8%, Klebsiella spp. 9.8%, Enterobacter spp. 7.8%, Enterococcus spp. 7.8%, Lactobacillus spp. 5.9%, Proteus spp. 3.9%, Shigella spp. 3.9% and Vibrio cholerae 2.0%. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed significantly strong positive correlation between total heterotrophic bacteria count and total coliforms (r = 0.643) and strong negative correlation between pH and total dissolved solids (r = -0.640). Other parameters such as faecal coliform, temperature, pH, turbidity, Zinc, Ammonium and Sodium shows significant correlation among variables.