Assessment of Microbiological Quality of Port Sudan drinking water Supply

Abstract

In this study the microbiological quality of Port Sudan drinking water was assessed. Water samples were taken from khor Arbaat (main source), desalination water plant, reservoirs and household at distributionnetwork, during the period from March to November, 2008. Bacteriological analysis involved total coliforms (TC) count, and estimation of faecal coliforms (FC). Attempts were made to isolation and identify pathogenic bacteria. The most probable number (MPN) and membrane filtration (MF) techniques were used. Bacteriological analyses showed that TC and FC were high in both household distribution network and reservoirs. The counts of the faecal indicators revealed that their densities increased from upper gate to lower gate. Out of 70 Bacterial isolates, 68 were identified according to their morphological biochemical characteristics as potentially pathogenic Gramnegative bacteria which indicated.Escherichia coli20 isolates (28.6%), Klebsiella pneumoniae5 isolates (7.1%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa8 isolates (11.43%), Pseudomonas alcalengenis10 isolates (14.29%), Shigella spp5 isolates (7.1%) and Proteus vulagris 5 isolates (7.1%) Citrobacter freundii12 isolates (17.1%), and Vibriospp3 isolates (4.3%). Gram-positive bacteria were isolated from 2 samples only there isolates were identified as Bacillus spp (2.9%). The results showed that bacterial contamination constitutes a significant problem in Port Sudan water supply; regular chlorination and monitoring of water supplies can improve the sanitary quality of water