Analysis of the microbiological situation of the quality of domestic water sources and identification of the microorganisms in them, located in the semi-arid regions of the Eastern Cape, South Africa

摘要

The water in Alice and Gogogo, which belong to the semi-arid areas of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, was characterized by using both standard microbiological methods and the standard physical methods to investigate its present quality in the sampling sites. For microbial analysis, indicator bacteria, namely, heterotrophic, total and faecal coliforms and physical parameters, such as pH, turbidity and temperature were assessed to check whether the water from dams, rivers, wells, etc. is safe for drinking. Almost all the indicator bacteria counts were above the South African standards. The physical parameters, such as alkalinity of water and high turbidity, proved favourable for bacterial growth. In another series of experiments we identified, using the API20E Assay kit, 54 different species of microorganisms, about 77.5% of them being human pathogens, 53.2% belonging to the family of Enterobacteriacae and only 22.5% being non pathogenic. Our investigations prove that the water in the domestic water sources of Alice and Gogogo is of poor quality and needs further purification.