Risk of Faecal Contamination of Water Used by Food Vendors in Owerri Munipality, Imo State Nigeria

Assessment of faecal contamination of water is a key factor in assessing the quality and safety of food. It also reveals the level of hygiene adopted by food handlers in the course of preparation and serving of such foods. This study assessed the risk of microbial contamination of water used by food vendors in Owerri munipality, Imo State Nigeria between January-December 2019 with an emphasis on total coliforms and the faecal coliforms/ faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) – Escherichia coli (E. coli) and thermotolerant coliforms (TTC). One hundred and thirty water samples collected across three vending types (street vendors, high level and low level restaurants) were evaluated for microbial contamination using standard methods. Data obtained was statistically analyzed with p-value set at 0.05 significance level. The result identified Enterobacter spp. and Klebsiella spp. The result showed that 48.46% (63) of the 130 water samples examined were contaminated with coliform bacteria, of which 20 (22.22%) samples had faecal coliform bacteria, representing 10.77% of the entire water samples examined. Of the 64 samples from water used for food preparation, 12.50% (8) had faecal coliform bacteria as against 9.09% (6) of 66 samples collected from water offered to customers for drinking. The result showed that 116 (89.23%) of the 130 water samples recorded no faecal coliform contamination, hence they were considered excellent based on the guidelines for determination of faecal contamination of water. Two samples had faecal coliform counts of 1-3 per 100 ml of water accounting for 1.54% of water samples, which is considered Satisfactory. The result revealed suspicious (4-9 per 100 ml) coliform count in 9 (6.92%) water samples, while three water samples (2.31%) had ≥10 count and are classified as unsatisfactory. The result revealed that 89.23% (116) of the examined water samples were of ‘no risk’ to the public, which was significantly higher than 8.46% (11) and 2.31% (3) recognized as being of low and intermediate risk respectively (p 0.05)