Effect of Open Refuse Dumpsite on the Quality of Underground Water Used for Domestic Purposes in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria - A Public Health Awareness Study

Abstract

The quality of underground water is compromised by the indiscriminate dumping of waste in the environment and contamination by leachate. The effect of the dunghill leachate on the physicochemical and microbial quality of water samples  collected from closest wells to the municipal waste disposing sites were investigated using standard chemical and microbiological methods. Different antibiotics (amoxicillin, amoxicillin clavulanic acid, chloramphenicol, cloxacillin, cotrimoxazole, erythromycin, gentamicin, nalidixic, nitrofurantoin, ofloxacin, streptomycin and tetracycline) were screened against two indicator organisms (Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli) isolated from water samples. The distances of the wells from the foot of the nearby dump sites ranges from 85.3 to 25.7 m. The pH values of the water samples ranged between 5.86 and 7.84. The turbidity of the water samples was also between 1.0 and 8.0 NTU. Five heavy metals were detected in the water samples with zinc having the highest value. The observed concentrations of metals in the wells water samples were presented as Zn˃Pb˃Cu˃Co˃Hg. The total bacterial count of the water samples from the well ranged between 2.2 × 10¹ cfu/ml and 2.51 × 10² cfu/ml while the coliform load ranged from 9.1 × 10¹ cfu/ml and 1.3 × 10¹ cfu/ml. Cloxacillin and tetracycline were not effective against the most of the E. faecalis isolates. Only 48 (71.66 %) and 53 (88.33 %) E. faecalis strains were sensitive to cloxacillin and tetracycline, respectively. Gentamicin was most effective on E. faecalis. Out of the eight antibiotics tested, ofloxacin was most effective against the pathogen. The quality of the water samples were below the tolerable level and unfit for domestic purposes.