Microbiological and Physicochemical Properties of Drinking Water at Ota, Southwest, Nigeria

Quality drinking water is of basic importance to human physiology and man’s continued existence depends much on its availability. Water samples from different outlets and homes in Ado Odo - Ota Local Government, Ogun state, Nigeria were analyzed for their microbiological and physiochemical properties. Total viable count was assessed by the pour plate technique, while physiochemical evaluations was carried out using Standard Chemical Methods such as pH analysis, physical appearances, Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), as well as tests for chloride, sulphate, calcium, zinc and oxidizable substances. All the water samples were found to harbor coliforms in numbers greater than the required World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) standards for water. The total viable counts for all the water samples were generally high, exceeding the limit of 1.0 × 102   cfu/ml for water, while all the samples tested passed the physicochemical tests except the test for chloride. Keywords: Water quality, physicochemical tests, fecal contamination, colifor