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RMMMMM
RMMMMM
Intro
The microbiological quality of drinking water has attracted great attention worldwide because of implied
public health impacts. Sachet-packaged drinking water is very common in Nigeria.
Unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene have been reported to rank third among the 20 leading risk
factors for health burden in developing countries, including Nigeria.
Contamination of water, either directly or indirectly, by human or animal excreta and the micro-
organisms contained in faeces is known to contribute to acquisition of disease by consumers.
Various opportunistic pathogens that occur naturally in the environment may cause disease in humans.
Those at greatest risk of infection are infants and young children,
In such individuals, drinking water containing large numbers of opportunistic pathogens can
occasionally produce infections. Examples of such opportunistic agents are Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Klebsiella sp., Aeromonas sp. and certain slow-growing mycobacteria.
Objective: To assess the microbiological quality of sachet-packaged drinking water in Western Nigeria
and its impact on public health.
Methods: Ninety-two sachet-packaged water samples were analysed for microbiological and metal
qualities. Total bacterial and coliform counts were determined, and the presence of Escherichia coli, an
important water quality indicator, was tested. The level of conformity of the water processors with the
guidelines of Nigerias quality regulatory agency was also determined.
Results: Varying levels of microbial contamination were recorded in samples from the different sampling
locations. The total bacteria count ranged between 2.86 and 3.45 log colony-forming units (cfu)/ml. The
highest coliform count recorded was 1.62 log cfu/ml. Faecal coliform E. coli was detected in one sample
from Oke-Iho and one sample from Okaka, representing 2.2% of total samples. Lead and manganes were
not found in any of the samples. However, iron was detected and the highest iron concentration (0.10
mg/ l) was detected in samples from Ikorodu. The bacteria that were identified from the water samples
included E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella sp., Proteus vulgaris,
Alcali-genes faecalis, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus lactis, Aeromonas sp. and
Micrococcus luteum. Many of the water processors did not comply with the guidelines of the quality
regulatory agency.
Conclusions: Some of the sachet-packaged samples of drinking water were of poor quality. The results
indicate a need for Nigerias quality regulatory agency to take appropriate measures in safeguarding
public health.
P. Alagidede a,*
, A.N. Alagidede
the drinking water target was met in 2010, five years ahead
worldwide who do not have access to improved drinkingwater. Even with improved access, evidence
shows that there
most developing countries and the data suggest that about 2.5
sanitation facilities.6
) to meet the
target for MDG 7c by 2015 naturally leads to a plethora of
countries that have failed to meet both the target for safe
MDG 7c.
Methods
how long will it take Nigeria to reach the MDG target of 75%
to reach 75% from the current 65.7%. And this would take
countries.
Results
six countries for 2000 and 2014. While some effort has been
2014.
under study, then the target for sanitation has been sorely
are worse off now than they were in 2000. About 12.2% and
this study were below the target for both water and sanitation
(see Figs. 1 and 2) and by the end of 2014, just 12 months before
the MDGs expire, there was no indication that the West Afri-
can countries under study would achieve the targets. As
availability of data for the analysis carried out in the article. The
countries in our sample represent the group that missed both the
Wash Map, hence their exclusion. depict the gap left to be filled and the required number of years
Conclusion
these two factors are highly correlated with health care and