International Journal of Waste Resources

Abstract

Prevalence of Pathogenic Bacteria in Open Drains and its Public Health Implications for Water Resources in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria

David N Ogbonna and Blessing A Erheriene

Wastewater and sediment samples from the open drains along the Ntanwogba creek were collected from five (5) different sites and analyzed for the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Microbiological studies involved the isolation and characterization of isolates by assessing the gene/nucleotide structure of the bacterial community through the polymerase chain reaction study. Results of the analysis show that the following bacteria were identified from the samples. The gram-negative bacteria include, Proteus mirabilis M18, Klebsiella pneumoniae strain DSM 30104, Burkolderia multivorans strain AUO, Plesiomonas shigelloides strain 187-907R, Pseudomonas fluorescens strain PF1, Esherichia coli, Enterobacter asburiae strain TYP8, Proteus mirabilis M19, Pseudomonas nitroreducens strain LBQSKN1, while gram-positive bacterium was Bacillus ginsengisoli strain A1Cr. Results obtained showed that both wastewater and sediment samples had higher microbial counts from the various sampling sites. Excess untreated wastewater can run off or percolate down to groundwater, causing contamination of drinking water supplies with faecal wastes and other pollutants which may contribute significantly to the spread of diseases amongst our population. This shows that the wastewater effluents and the receiving water bodies could pose a potential health risk to the surrounding communities who depend on these water resources for various domestic activities.