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Bacteriological quality of the wastewater used for irrigation at the vegetable farms in Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, Accra Metropolis, Ghana
- Source :
- Tropical Doctor. 47:15-19
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2016.
-
Abstract
- Many developing countries, including Ghana, are water stressed. As such, farmers, particularly those in urban areas, have adopted the use of wastewater for irrigation. This study evaluated the bacteriological water quality of the wastewater used for irrigation in the vegetable farms at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Accra Metropolis, Ghana. In all, 40 wastewater samples were collected and analysed bacteriologically using the total aerobic plate count method. The isolated bacteria were identified biochemically using Bergey’s manual for determinative bacteriology. Mean total bacterial colony count values in the range of 2.75–4.44 × 105 CFU/100 mL were isolated which far exceeds values of 1 × 103/100 mL recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for unrestricted irrigation of crops likely to be eaten raw. Enterobacter cloacae (51.4%), Klebsiella sp. (24.1%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11.3%), Salmonella typhi (10.6%), Escherichia coli (2.2%) and Proteus sp. (0.4%) were the predominant bacteria isolated. Growers should use treated wastewater for farming while processors and consumers should minimize contamination risks of produce from the vegetable farms/garden to the plate.
- Subjects :
- Crops, Agricultural
0301 basic medicine
Irrigation
Agricultural Irrigation
Farms
Urban Population
030106 microbiology
Food Contamination
Wastewater
010501 environmental sciences
Salmonella typhi
Ghana
01 natural sciences
Toxicology
03 medical and health sciences
Escherichia coli
Humans
Medicine
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
biology
business.industry
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Agriculture
Enterobacter
biology.organism_classification
Infectious Diseases
Water quality
Water Microbiology
business
Enterobacter cloacae
Food contaminant
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17581133 and 00494755
- Volume :
- 47
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Tropical Doctor
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ae628170c5cc33f16508aac2f2e100df