Description
Introduction: Diminishing potable water sources is one of the biggest concerns of the twenty-first century when it comes to meeting the demand of good water in quality and quantity. In Cameroon, waterborne diseases prevail due to inefficient public health structures, rapid population growth and climate change. Over 39.1% of residents in Bamboutos suffer from waterborne disease caused by bacteria, parasites and viruses where agriculture and open animal husbandry contaminate drinking water sources. Water is the second most important element in life after air, therefore investigating the causes and controlling water pollution is crucial. This study assessed the physico-chemical and bacteriological quality of drinking water in comparison with the permissible limits of the WHO guidelines for drinking water.
Methodology: Water samples were collected from the most used water sources (wells, springs, streams and boreholes) during the dry and rainy seasons and from residents' homes that used these same sources. Using the plate count and the membrane filter techniques, bacteriological analysis of 120 samples was carried out followed by identification of bacteria colonies using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The APHA and modified Zielhl-Neelsen / lugol’s staining techniques were used for the physico-chemical and parasitological analyses of 240 samples respectively.
Results and Discussion: The mean densities of all bacteria were grossly beyond legal permissible limits of the WHO (> 0cfu/100ml) with 100% of samples contaminated. Total coliforms revealed the highest bacterial abundances with an average of 819.6 cfu/100ml and Escherichia spp the least (48.55 cfu/100ml). Bacteria abundance was not different between the rainy/dry seasons (p>0.05) and between samples collected from homes/sources (p>0.05) for all bacteria except Shigella spp with higher bacterial count at sources (p = 0.0001). Using MALDI TOF MS, 37 species of bacteria were revealed, some known to be pathogenic and resistant to antibiotics. Entamoeba spp and Cryptosporidium spp were reported with a prevalence of 22.1% and 10.4% respectively. Tremendous bacterial counts and parasites in water regardless of the season or collection site is an indication of faecal contamination of the sources. This might result from inefficient sewage disposal systems and increased population densities implying more environmental pollution. However, most physico-chemical parameters were within the permissible limits of the WHO guidelines while parameters like DO (100%), pH (57.08%), turbidity (24.16%) and phosphates (77.08%) were out of norms. Despite good physico-chemical quality, further investigation to verify pesticides and fertilizer residues in water and antimicrobial resistance is important since agriculture is the main activity in this area.
Conclusion: Drinking water in the Bamboutos Division is unsafe as all samples were above the 0 cfu/100ml recommended by the WHO. Attention should be paid to these alternative sources that are gradually replacing public utilities to avoid impending health disasters.
Keywords: Drinking water, pollution, bacteriological, Physico-chemical, Cameroon.
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