Microbiological Assessment of Pollution Level of Agba Dam, in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Agba Dam, which is an important source of raw water used in treatment of water for supply of potable water in Ilorin Metropolis, was evaluated for presence of bacteria, pollution level and potability. Samples were collected from four points along the course of the dam. Bacteria isolated included Enterobacter aerogenes, Salmonella enteritidis, Shigella dysenteriae, Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter cloacae and Escherichia coli using selective media and Microbact identification system. The pH of the water samples ranged between 7.51-7.90, temperature ranged between 22-29 °C, total hardness ranged between 0.38-0.49 gm/l, total suspended solid ranged between 0.17-0.25 mg/l, total solid ranged between 0.86-0.99 mg/l, dissolved solid ranged between 0.61-0.78 mg/l. The average total bacterial and coliform counts ranged from 1.0×102-1.54×102 cfu/ml and 1.1×101-5.9×101 cfu/ml respectively. The presence of these pathogenic microorganisms showed high level of contamination of the raw water body. This might be a consequence of the human activities around the water body, thus posing a great health risk if not properly and adequately treated.

Keywords

• dam
• microorganisms
• potability
• raw water
• treatment