BIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF STREAM WATER IN ADOKA OF OTUKPO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA BENUE STATE

Urban River, streams and wetlands are susceptible to pollution (OYSGN, 2019). And so, Onaje stream faces a similar problem. This river is the main water source for the people of Adoka and its environs but due to poor waste management of markets, hotel, hospital, school and industrial setups, waters quality could have got compromise. This study was aimed at evaluating the bacteriological quality of stream water in Adoka and to compare the bacteriological quality of the deep and shallow parts of the steam. The objectives of the study was to isolate the possible bacteria contaminants, to identify the bacteria species isolated, to determine and compare the total bacteria count of the deep and shallow parts of the steam and to determine and compare the total coliform count of the deep and shallow parts of the steam. The water samples were obtained from the deep and shallow parts of stream aseptically and transported in sterile plastic containers to the Microbiology laboratory of the polytechnic for further analysis. The samples collected from three different locations were cultured on appropriate media. The total bacteria count revealed that the shallow stream, and deep stream, are all contaminated. The high microbial load could be due to run off and agricultural waste that are washed into them. the coliform counts (TCC) for the deep stream water sample was 2.7 x 103 while the shallow stream was 2.8 x 103 , From a water quality and safety point of view, the findings of this research has shown that Onaje stream water (Adoka) is highly contaminated. As indicated by the total bacteria count, the shallow side of the stream has a higher bacteria count compared to the deep side of the stream. This could be due to the fact that the deep stream flows more than the shallow stream, which is almost stagnant. The bacteria isolated from the stream include Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and salmonella. The presence of Escherichia coli in all the samples is an indication of fecal contamination. The community engagement in improving water quality such as good agricultural practices and good hygienic practices in and around the stream is very essential to ensure that they are rescued from consuming contaminated water.