Accessibility of Potable water in rural and riverine communities have reduced drastically in recent times. A total of six borehole water samples and a freshwater sample were obtained from Okerenkoko community in Delta State, Nigeria. The water samples were analyzed for physicochemical and microbiological parameters using standard procedures. Pearson correlational analysis was employed to evaluate the level of association of the data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23. Our results showed that pH concentration values ranged from 5.62 to 7.81, electrical conductivity had 10.03 to 490.01 µS/cm, dissolved oxygen varied from 3.90 to 7.91 mg/L, COD had 10.01 to 50.03 mg/L. The fecal coliform count ranged from 4- 2400 MPN/ml, while the surface water had a fecal coliform count 2400 MPN/ml;  fungal count 3.1 Log10CFU/ml and 3.6 Log10CFU/ml respectively, Total aerobic count had a maximal concentration value of 5.8 Log10CFU/ml and 5.4 Log10CFU/ml; Total Salmonella Shigella Count it had a concentration of 4.0 Log10CFU/ml. Microbes associated with the water samples were Bacillus sp., Escherichia sp., Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp., Shigella sp., Proteus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Klebsiella sp., Vibrio sp.  and Micrococcus sp. There is an urgent need to source-track the trajectory of pollutants from both from domestic and industrial activities. There is need that the government at all levels should improve the available potable water resources in Okerenkoko community.

Mutagenic testing of portable water is fast becoming an important protocol for assessing water quality. Two potable water samples were selected from both ground and surface water sources within the Okerenkoko community, Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State Nigeria. Ame’s test was employed in the assessment of potential carcinogens in the potable water available to the community. The study was carried out in triplicate to broaden the reproducibility of the study. Sensitivity of the test organism was evaluated using the Salmonella TA98 and Salmonella TA100 which was reconstituted for the study. The average revertant colonies from the study was enumerated to indicate that the test conducted on S3OK (Surface water) had 428.1 and 637.84 revertant colonies using Salmonella TA 100 for both +S9 mix and -S9 mix-conditions respectively while similar replica result was for Salmonella TA 98 was 629.7 and 66.12 revertant colonies. The samples obtained from S1OK had slightly lower number of revertant colonies of 209.16 and 115.94 colonies for Salmonella T.A 100 while for Salmonella T.A 98 had 116.82 and 108.90 colonies for treatments containing S9 mix preparations. The study identified the test organism was Salmonella T.A 98 was more sensitive to the carcinogen present in the S3OK sample being used by a wide population of indigenes of the lower economic class. This study further buttresses the need to develop a more robust monitoring protocol for packaged water sources in Nigeria. Regulatory agencies such as NAFDAC must enforce strict intervention limits for potable water sources.