Bacterial and chemical quality of water supply in the Dertig village settlement

Water contaminated with microbiological and chemical constituents can cause a variety of diseases. Water intended for human consumption should be safe , palatable and aesthetically pleasing. Water sources have different qualit ies influenced by natural or anthropological pollution. In South Africa, th e availability of safe and clean water is a serious problem, especially in rural areas. Most people in such areas use water directly from available so urces without any treatment and therefore are exposed to a variety of water -related diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the chemica l and microbiological quality of drinking water supply to a rural community in order to estimate the health implications thereof. Water samples were c ollected weekly from five water sources, that is, Lefatlheng Well, Tlhaloga nyo groundwater, Tlhaloganyo rain water, Matlaisane groundwater and Tshwane River in the Dertig/Lefatlheng village settlement which is in Hammanskraal , about 55 km north of Pretoria. To provide an indication of the microbiolo gical quality of the water resources, indicator organisms including heterot rophic bacteria, faecal coliform, total coliform, Salmonella and coliphages were used. In order to support the results, bacterial isolates were identi fied using both the 20E and 20NE API systems to confirm their isolation. Fo r the chemical quality analyses, different chemical quality variables inclu ding temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), aluminium (Al), iron (Fe), man ganese (Mn), fluoride (F), nitrate (NO3), nitrite (NO2) and colour were det ermined. The chemical quality of all the water sources analysed was accepta ble. In contrast, however, the microbiological quality of all the water sou rces exceeded the standard for potable water and the sources pose a serious health risk to consumers.