doi: 10.7763/IJESD.2012.V3.194
The Microbiological Survey of Potential Water Borne Pathogens in Fresh Water Springs of the Selected Community Located in the Upolu Island, Samoa
F. Latū1
,
P. Amosa1 ,
T. Imo1 ,
V. Taufao2
- 1the Science Department, National University of Samoa, Samoa
- 2the Mathematics and Statistics Department, National University of Samoa, Samoa
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the sanitary quality of three freshwater springs by estimating the concentration of total coliform (TC) and faecal coliform (FC) bacteria as pollution indicators. Water samples were collected twice a month during the period August 2008 to January 2009; from springs on the island of Upolu, Samoa. For bacteriological analysis, the membrane filtration method was used for the two groups of bacteria. All samples from the three sites were found contaminated with total coliform and faecal coliform bacteria and the counts were higher than the maximum microbial contaminant level established by World Health Organization (WHO). The results imply that the springs were heavily polluted by bacteria of faecal origin suggesting that, these springs are potential sources of health hazards which is important from a public health perspective.
Keywords
- Total coliform
- faecal coliform indicators
- Samoa
How to Cite
F. Latū, P. Amosa, T. Imo, and V. Taufao, "The Microbiological Survey of Potential Water Borne Pathogens in Fresh Water Springs of the Selected Community Located in the Upolu Island, Samoa," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 89-93, 2012. https://doi.org/10.7763/IJESD.2012.V3.194
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2012 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).