Physicochemical water quality of the Mfoundi River watershed at Yaoundé, Cameroon, and its relevance to the distribution of bacterial indicators of faecal contamination

摘要

Water quality of the Mfoundi River and four of its tributaries was studied by assessing somenphysicochemical variables (temperature, pH, conductivity, chlorides, phosphates and nitrogennammonia, dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide, organic matter content and Biological OxygennDemand) and their influence on the distribution of bacterial indicators of faecal contaminationn(total coliform, faecal coliform and faecal streptococci). For this, standard methods for thenexamination of physicochemical parameters in water were followed, and statistical analysisn(Pearson correlations) used to establish any relationships between physicochemical and biologicalnvariables. Our results revealed that almost all of the examined physicochemical variablesnexceeded World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for recreational water. This was innagreement with a previous microbiological study indicating that these waters were not safenfor human use or primary contact according to water quality standards established by the WHO.nResults of our correlation analysis suggested that physicochemical and biological variablesninteract in complicated ways reflecting the complex processes occurring in the naturalnenvironment. It was also concluded that pollution in the Mfoundi River watershed posesnan increased risk of infection for users and there exists an urgent need to control dumpingnof wastewater into this watershed.