Microbiological analysis of drinking water quality of Bihar River of Rewa district (M.P.) India

Abstract

Bacteriological analyses were carried out on Bihar river water of Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Bihar river was selected in this study because this river runs about nearly 97 km and supplies water for many villages for drinking and bathing purposes. The standard membrane filtration technique and multiple tube technique were employed to conduct fecal and total coliform counts. The obtained results were then compared to the reports of the esteemed All India Institute of Medical Sciences Standards for Drinking and Recreational Water. Faecal coliform counts varied from 12 to 180 MPN/100 ml while Escherichia coli counts ranged from 6 to 161 MPN/100 ml for all the sampled sites. Among the total coliform Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shewanella putrefaciens, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Citrobacter freundii and Proteus mirabilis are reported. The presence of excessive Faecal coliform and E. coli levels signifies the contamination caused by untreated household waste originating from numerous informal settlements situated along the river's edge. A comprehensive examination of water utilization in the region revealed its primary purpose to be domestic and recreational. The river's alarming pollution endangers the health of the local populace, who heavily rely on it as their primary water source.