MICROBIAL IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIA IN BOREHOLE WATER USING HALL TWO AND HALL FOUR IN UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, UGBOWO, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Water covers 71% of the earth surface and is essential for all the living beings. Nearly all metabolic processes take place in the presence of water. Clean water has a number of health benefits which include enhancing appetite control, metabolism, increase energy levels and aid in heart rate. Microorganisms are a crucial component of water. They are not only in charge of nutrient cycling, but they can also contribute to a number of diseases that are water-borne. In this study, the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in borehole water samples from Tinubu(Hall 2) and Akanu Ibiam (Hall 4) hostel in the University of Benin, Ugbowo, Benin City, Nigeria was evaluated. The bacteriological assessment was carried out using cultural techniques, identification of the isolates was done using biochemical methods and antimicrobial sensitivity was carried out using Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. Six bacteria genera in total were isolated from both water samples namely, Proteus sp, Salmonella sp, Shigella sonnei, Enterobacter sp, Pseudomonas sp and Escherichia coli all of which are known to cause unpleasant human diseases when consumed in large quantities. The total heterotrophic bacteria counts obtained from the water ranged from 1.20±5.60 x104 cfu/ml to 7.85 ±2.80 x104 cfu/ml. It was also observed in this study that the isolated bacteria demonstrated resistance to some of the antibiotics in the antibacterial susceptibility testing, suggesting the presence of multi drug resistant strains. Studies should be conducted to test the efficacy of alternative antimicrobial agents to human pathogenic bacteria.