Physicochemical and Bacteriological Analysis of Ebe River Water Used for Drinking in Amede Community, Eha-Amufu, Southeast Nigeria

Water is an important natural resource that plays vital roles in maintaining and sustaining life. Drinking water pollution is common in poor societies and it poses a serious challenge to public health. Polluted water can contain high levels of heavy metals that can cause critical health problems and also serve as vehicles for the transmission of several pathogens. Ebe River is the major source of drinking water in Amede community and its environment is extensively polluted. This study evaluated some physicochemical parameters and bacteriological quality of Ebe river water using standard methods. A total of 15 samples were taken from five study sites and analyzed during the dry season. The physicochemical parameters analyzed were within the maximum permitted range by the World Health Organization and Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality except turbidity (3.77±0.15-7.10±0.20 NTU), Mg (24.33±0.70-31.60±0.92 mg/L), SO 4 (118.90±2.27-136.17±2.30 mg/L), Zn (2.41±0.02-5.02±0.09 mg/L), Fe (1.14±0.00-2.19±0.18 mg/L), Pb (0.04±0.01-0.13±0.01 mg/L), Cd (0.01±0.01-0.03±0.08 mg/L) and Mn (0.11±0.01-0.19±0.02 mg/L). The presence of high concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and manganese (Mn) in the river water is a serious concern because these chemicals can cause critical health problems. Total heterotrophic bacteria count ranged from 9.1x10 4 ±2.52-1.16x10 5 ±7.37 cfu/ml, faecal coliform ranged from 4.33±0.58-10.33±0.58 cfu/100ml and total coliform ranged from 17.33±1.16-31.33±4.73 cfu/100ml. Pseudomonas , Shigella and Salmonella counts ranged from 9.33±0.58-28.67±2.08 cfu/100ml, 2.33±0.58-5.67±0.58 cfu/100ml and 2.11±0.01-3.00±1.00 cfu/100ml. Vibrio spp. was not detected. Pseudomonas spp. and Escherichia coli were isolated in all the 15 samples analyzed (100% occurrence). The percentage occurrence of Salmonella spp. was 60% and this was same with Shigella spp. The result generally indicate that water from Ebe River; also called Ebonyi River is of poor quality and unsafe for human consumption.