Analysis of Bacteriological Content of Wastewater in Some Selected Locations in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

In this study, analysis of bacteriological content of wastewater in Maiduguri was carried out. One sample each, that is, Abattoir, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) and Monday Market was made from domestic, commercial and the industrial sites in the city respectively. Samples were collected from twenty (20) samples points along each of the wastewater channels at every 5meters distance, making a total of 1km distance in each channel. About 25 mls of the wastewater was aseptically collected using sterile universal containers. Seven organisms (Escherichia Coli, Klebsiella sp, Protens sp, Alromonas sp, Enterobacter sp, Salmonella sp and Shigella sp), were screened for in each of the three sampled locations, but only four (Escherichia Coli, Klebsiella sp, Enterobacter sp and Shigella sp) were positive. Monday market and Abattoir were found to have high prevalence of Escherichia coli. Salmonella sp was also found to be higher in Monday Market than the other two locations. The result of the study also shows that the three locations are not significantly different in terms of the organisms they generate which reflected in the similarity of microbiological contaminants in all the three sample locations. However, the result of the variance among the organisms revealed that there is significant difference among the organisms in the three sites, that is, some organisms are more suitable to some sites than the others. Finally, it was also revealed that some essential commodities as satchet water, milk, meat among others have already been contaminated by some of the identified bacteria in sampled sites. It was recommended that there should be implementation and compliance with standard policy guidelines on wastewater disposal in order to reduce the outbreak of diseases. Since it has been established that some essential items such as satchet water, milk, meat and food have been contaminated by these bacteria, it is necessary to have functional quality control of these items before they reach the consumers.