Microbial and Physicochemical Characteristics of Marine Water and Paints Collected from Onne, Rivers State, Nigeria

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the microbial and physicochemical characteristics of marine water and paints collected from Onne, Rivers State, Nigeria using appropriate standard methods. Data obtained show that the paint samples recorded no heterotrophic fungal count, hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial count, and hydrocarbon utilizing fungal count. The water sample recorded counts of 1.23 x 102 CFU/g, 8.4 x 103 CFU/g, and 3.4 x 103 CFU/g for heterotrophic fungal count, hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial count, and hydrocarbon utilizing fungal count. The mean lethal concentration of the paint to Staphylococcus sp was recorded as 8.23%, 9.83%, and 9.56%, respectively. During the biodeterioration study, the heterotrophic bacterial count of Jianbang increased from 2.09×102CFU/g on day 14 to 4.4 ×104CFU/g on day 42 compared to the marine paint, International, which recorded a bacterial count of 2.20×102CFU/g to 3.8×105CFU/g on day 42. The fungal count of Jianbang increased from 1.17×10 CFU/g on day 14 to 2.81×102 on day 42, with a decreased growth count of 4.4×102 on day 48. A decrease in physicochemical parameters, conductivity, viscosity, and pH was observed during the deterioration study. The study revealed that marine paint can biodeteriorate accompanied by changes in their physical and chemical properties after exposure to the marine environment.