Isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria from drinking tap water and Tigris River water sources in Baghdad

Water is a resource and a crucial aspect of living and surviving. In Iraq, the Tigris River is one of the most critical water sources. The present study aimed to provide an insight analysis of some water quality parameters including the microbial content of drinkable tap water and river water. Ten Water samples (T1- T10) in triplicate were collected from sampling sites -Site I (Tap water) from home water taps, supplied by the Water Filtration Station/ Al Karama Project/ Al-Karkh> 10 from Site II (R1- R10)River water from Tigris River (around or near the Water Filtration Station/ Al Karama Project) every week (from September to half of November 2022), then were immediately placed in sterile bottles and transported to Microbiology lab for the analysis. Site I, turbidity was (0.7- 6) NTU. Free Chlorine availability was 0.5- 3.5 mg/L>CFU/ mL ranged from 0 to 40 in Total Plate Count (TPC);membrane filtration method (MFM) was unsatisfactory (T1, T8,T9), other samples were satisfactory. Site II, coliform result was 5200- 9200 CFU/ 100mL;Lauryl Tryptose broth (11000–49000) MPN/100mL,;Brilliant Green Bile broth (6900–17000 MPN/100mL); EC-MUG (E. coli medium with 4-methylumbelliferyl-β-D-glucuronide) was4900- 22000 MPN/100mL and EC-Broth was 4900- 22000 MPN/100mL. m-Endo Agar LES was +ve for all samples. All Tigris River water samples , were contaminated with coliform bacteria: E. coli, C. freundii, and Sphingomonas paucimobilis (sample R2) as non-coliform. Site I were drinkable and reliable, corresponding to Iraqi and WHO typical parameters, while Site II was under standardization.