Douglas Salome Ibietela* and Longjohn Ibiene Rogers

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Rivers State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Douglas Salome Ibietela, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Received: January 10, 2022; Published: February 17, 2022

Abstract

The continued contamination of rivers by humans is on the increase and such contaminations have resulted to limited supply of safe water for domestic and recreational purposes. The Microbiology and some physicochemical properties of Bonny River was evaluated. Sample locations were designated as: A: refuse disposal point; B: close to oil spill area; C: in close proximity to public toilet, D: away from human activities; E: industrial area, all along the river. The following parameters which include: total heterotrophic bacteria, fungi and microalgae of the surface water samples were evaluated using standard microbiological methods. The microorganisms were identified based on morphological and biochemical characteristics. The physicochemical parameters and heavy metals of the surface water samples were determined using standard methods for the examination of water. Results of the total heterotrophic bacterial counts for A, B, C, D and E are: 1.13 ± 0.42 × 10⁶, 5.6 ± 0.55 × 10⁵, 1.6 ± 0.50 × 10⁶, 6.6 ± 0.70 × 10⁵ and 1.02 ± 0.25 × 10⁶ cfu/ml, respectively. Results of the coliform counts for A, B, C, D and E are 1.48 ± 3.08 × 10⁵, 8.6 ± 0.73 × 10⁴, 8.3 ± 1.04 × 10⁴, 3.4 ± 2.63 × 10⁴ and 8.4 ± 0.20 × 10⁴ cfu/ml whereas the results for the fungal counts are: 8.3 ± 0.43 × 10², 4.7 ± 0.48 × 10², 1.3 ± 0.45 × 10³, 4.3 ± 0.45 × 10² and 1.3 ± 0.57 × 10³ cfu/ml, respectively. Total heterotrophic bacterial counts were higher in samples collected from location A followed by locations E while the least counts were recorded in location B. Thirty-six bacterial isolates belonging to: Pseudomonas sp, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter sp, Alcaligenes sp, Serratia sp, Staphylococcus sp, Bacillus sp, Shigella sp, Salmonella sp and Klebsiella sp were isolated from the different locations. The fungal isolates were Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus arrhizus, Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus sp, Mucor sp, Microsporum sp, Cunninghamella sp and Candida sp were isolated. Also, the microalgae identified include: Closterium sp, Scenedesmus sp and Oscillatoria sp. The results showed that the mean range of Physicochemical properties were; pH 8.2 to 8.4, temperature: 26.5-28^oC, electrical conductivity: 45600-122000µs/cm, turbidity: 0.71 to 1.45NTU, salinity: 3.06 to 8.18 mg/l, nitrate: 0.02 ± 0.03 to 0.35 ± 0.27 mg/l, phosphate: 0.41 ± 0.52 to 0.72 ± 0.05 mg/l, DO: 1.05 to 2.10 mg/l, BOD: 1.40 to 3.70 mg/l and THC: 8.0 ± 14.14 to 47.0 ± 14.14 mg/l. The results for the heavy metal analyses showed that only the cadmium concentration obtained in locations A, C and E (0.00386 ± 0.00, 0.00249 ± 0.00 and 0.00196 ± 0.00 mg/l) were within the WHO limits (0.005 mg/l). High concentrations of lead, chromium and nickel which exceeded WHO permissible limits were recorded in all the samples. The results of this investigation revealed that the Bonny River is highly contaminated with feacal bacteria, Total Hydrocarbon Content (THC), and heavy metals, which may potentially cause bioaccumulation in organisms. These contaminants have made the water unfit for domestic and other recreational uses. There is need for regular monitoring of these parameters for early detection of any major pollution issues.

Keywords: Human Activities; Microalgae; Coliforms; Total Heterotrophic Bacteria; Physicochemistry; Heavy Metals

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Citation

Citation: Douglas Salome Ibietela and Longjohn Ibiene Rogers. “Evaluation of the Microbiology and Some Physicochemical Properties of Bonny River, Rivers State, Nigeria". Acta Scientific Microbiology 5.3 (2022): 33-44 .

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Douglas Salome Ibietela and Longjohn Ibiene Rogers. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.