Assessment of the Microbiological Quality of Drinking Water in Light of Water Quality in the Pelengana Commune of Segou Region

Abstract

This study focused to determine the bacteriological quality of different commonly used water sources, including boreholes, hand pumps, surface water, household containers, dug well and cement reservoirs in Pelengana commune, in Mali with special reference to the internally displaced people camps. Four hundred and eight water samples were collected from different sites and sources, from July 2016 to June 2017. Water samples were examined for total coliform, fecal coliform and fecal enterococci counts using the most probable number method. Also, samples were investigated for the presence of enteric bacteria isolated, namely Escherichia coli, Enterococcus fecalis, Bacillus, Citrobacter and Enterobacter. Results revealed that the three indicators bacteria (Total Coliform (48.7%), Fecal Coliform (100%), and Fecal enterococci (37.01%)) were found above permissible limit for drinking water. The highest number of the indicators bacteria found was 1800 TC/100ml water. Enteric bacteria isolated were Escherichia coli (25.7%), Enterococcus fecalis (21.91%), Bacillus (16.72%), Enterobacter (4.56%) and Citrobacter (3.91%). The most contaminated water source was surface water (15.28%) followed by household containers (13.65%), boreholes (8.75%), cement reservoirs (7.47%), hand pumps (5.31%) and dug wells (2.7%). These findings illustrate that contamination varied with seasons, and the highest level was observed in rainy season (30.02%) compared to the dry season (23.14%). All sources of water in the study sites were contaminated. It is suggested that the outright prevention of surface water consumption should be employed and monitoring of the quality of water resources is needed.