Dataset Information

Evaluation of Microbiological and Physicochemical Parameters of Alternative Source of Drinking Water: A Case Study of Nzhelele River, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Background:Access to clean and safe drinking water is still a problem in developing countries and more pronounced in rural areas. Due to erratic supply of potable, rural dwellers often seek for an alternative source of water to meet their basic water needs. The objective of this study is to monitor the microbiological and physicochemical water quality parameters of Nzhelele River which is a major alternative source of drinking water to villages along its course in Limpopo province of South Africa. Methods:Membrane filtration method was employed in evaluating the levels of E. coli and Enterococci in the river water from January-June, 2014. Specialized multimeter was used to measure the pH, electrical conductivity and turbidity of the river water. Ion Chromatograph was used to measure major anions such as fluoride, chloride, nitrate and sulphate in the water. Results:High levels of E. coli (1 x 102 - 8 x 104 cfu/100 mL) and enterococci (1 x 102 - 5.7 x 103 cfu/100 mL) were found in the river water and exceeded their permissible limits of 0 cfu/100 mL for drinking water. Turbidity values ranged from 1.12-739.9 NTU. The pH, electrical conductivity, chloride, fluoride, nitrate and sulphate levels were below their permissible limits for drinking water. Conclusion:The river water is contaminated with faecal organisms and is unfit for drinking purposes. However, the levels of the major anions accessed were within the permissible limits of drinking water.

SUBMITTER: Edokpayi JN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5842400 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Evaluation of Microbiological and Physicochemical Parameters of Alternative Source of Drinking Water: A Case Study of Nzhelele River, South Africa.

Edokpayi Joshua N JN Odiyo John O JO Popoola Elizabeth O EO Msagati Titus A M TAM

The open microbiology journal 20180228

<h4>Background</h4>Access to clean and safe drinking water is still a problem in developing countries and more pronounced in rural areas. Due to erratic supply of potable, rural dwellers often seek for an alternative source of water to meet their basic water needs. The objective of this study is to monitor the microbiological and physicochemical water quality parameters of Nzhelele River which is a major alternative source of drinking water to villages along its course in Limpopo province of Sou ...[more]

PMID: 29541268

Similar Datasets

Project description:Anthropogenic activities in catchments used for drinking water production largely contaminates source waters, and this may impact the quality of the final drinking water product. These contaminants may also affect taxonomic and functional profiles of the bacterial communities in the drinking water. Here, we report an integrated insight into the microbiome and water quality of four water treatment plants (NWC, NWE, WCA and NWG) that supply portable water to communities in South Africa. A new scoring system based on combined significant changes of physicochemical parameters and microbial abundance from raw to treated water was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment plants at water purification. Physicochemical parameters which include total soluble solids, turbidity, pH, nitrites and phosphorus among others, were measured in source, treated, and distributed water. There were general statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05) differences between raw and treated water, demonstrating the effectiveness of the purification process. Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was used for taxonomic profiling of the microbial communities and this data was used to infer functional attributes of the communities. Structure and composition of the bacterial communities differed significantly (P < 0.05) among the treatment plants, only NWE and NWG showed no significant differences (P > 0.05), this correlated with the predicted functional profile of the microbial communities obtained from Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Observed States (PICRUSt), as well as the likely pollutants of source water. Bacteroidetes, Chlorobi and Fibrobacteres significantly differed (P < 0.05) between raw and distributed water. PICRUSt inferred a number of pathways involved in the degradation of xenobiotics such as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, atrazine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. More worryingly, was the presence of pathways involved in beta-lactam resistance, potential pathogenic Escherichia coli infection, Vibrio cholerae infection, and Shigellosis. Also present in drinking and treated water were OTUs associated with a number of opportunistic pathogens.

Dataset Information

Evaluation of Microbiological and Physicochemical Parameters of Alternative Source of Drinking Water: A Case Study of Nzhelele River, South Africa.

Publications

Evaluation of Microbiological and Physicochemical Parameters of Alternative Source of Drinking Water: A Case Study of Nzhelele River, South Africa.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets