Assessment of physiochemical properties and bacteriological diversity of Otamiri river in Owerri eastern Nigeri

The physiochemical and bacteria diversity of Otamiri River was analyzed using standard microbiological methods. A total of seventy two (72) water and twenty four (24) sediment samples were collected. The routine plate count revealed that the number of heterotrophic bacteria present ranged from 1.00E+06 Cfu/ml to 9.70E+06 Cfu/ml, fecal coliform count 2.00E+05 Cfu/ml to 9.00E+06 Cfu/ml, Salmonella/Shigella count 3.50E+05 Cfu/ml to 1.52E+07 Cfu/ml, Staphylococcus count 2.00E+05 Cfu/ml to 1.79E+07 Cfu/ml, coliform count 3.50E+05 Cfu/ml to 4.59E+08 Cfu/ml, Vibrio count 1.50E+05 Cfu/ml to 3.52E+07 Cfu/ml. Anaerobic bacteria count ranged from 2.00E+05 Cfu/ml to 2.85E+06 Cfu/ml. The proportion of bacteria isolated from the samples showed that Alcaligens faecalis had the highest 68(94.44), 24(100), followed by Lysinibacillus macrolides 54(75), 21(87.5) while Lactobacillus spp had the least in water sample 6(8.33), Klebsiella aerogenes had the least in sediment 6(25). Among the physiochemical parameters analyzed in the river water and sediment samples had values above the recommended standard by WHO. The samples biophysical parameters did not meet the standard recommended by WHO for portable water. Therefore, to prevent potential health risks, those who use river water for domestic purposes must appropriately cleanse it before use. The government of the day should devise ways of disposing solid waste and effluent rather than channel same into the river and enact strict laws that will punish individual, agencies and firms that indulge in such in order to protect natural bodies of water from pollution. Statistical analysis using analysis of variance Posthoc = Tukey Alpha (0.05) indicated that the mean bacteria counts between the sampling stations differ significantly at the 0.05 level.