Microbial safety assessment of recreation water at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology
Abstract
This study assessed the microbial safety of Lake Nabugabo beaches for recreation. Faecal microbial
indicators and physico-chemical characteristics of beach recreational water were determined. Water
sampling was done between 10.00 and 11.30 h and 1700 and 18.00 h. Data was analysed using student ttests,
ANOVA and spearman correlation (at 95%). Results were: total coliform (10.5-15.8 CFU/100 ml),
faecal coliform (10-12.5 CFU/100 ml), Escherichia coli (0-2.63 CFU/100 ml), faecal streptococci (0-1.5
CFU/100 ml), all significantly different (P<0.05) from the control and electrical conductivity (27-32.6
μS/cm), pH (7.1), turbidity (12.6-26 NTU), total dissolved solids (13.2-15.4 mg/l), total suspended solids
(12.6 - 13.4), colour (10.3 Pt-Co), alkalinity (29.3 mg/l), hardness (CaCO3) (32.5 mg/l), total nitrogen (1.3
mg/l), ammonium-N (0.6 mg/l), nitrate (0.05 mg/l), total phosphorus (0.8 mg/l), orthophosphates (0.02
mg/l), iron (0.2-0.3 mg/l), calcium (1.2-1.8 mg/l), magnesium (0.4-0.6 mg/l), sodium (1.2-2 mg/l), potassium
(1.8-2.6 mg/l), all not significantly different (P > 0.05) from the control. Total coliforms and faecal
streptococci exhibited significant correlation with TSS (r = 0.9, p = 0.04). Results indicate that Lake
Nabugabo water is safe (WHO, US-EPA) for recreation.
Description
Keywords
Lake Nabugabo, Microbial safety assessment, Recreation water, Water quality
Citation
Doreen, N., Okot-Okumu, J., & Muyodi, F. J. (2015). Microbial safety assessment of recreation water at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 9(10), 773-782. DOI: 10.5897/AJEST2015.1979