Bacteriological and Physicochemical Analysis of Fish Pond Effluents in Warri and Its Environs, Nigeria

Aims: This study was to ascertain the bacteriological and physicochemical characteristics of fish pond effluents.

Study Design: Waste water samples were collected from six (6) different ponds, three (3) earthen ponds (A, B & C) and three (3) concrete ponds (D, E & F).

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in a laboratory in the Department of Environmental Management and toxicology, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria. The research lasted for six months.

Methodology: Standard procedures were adopted for sample collection, microbiological and physicochemical analyses. Waste water samples were analyzed for total bacterial count, total coliform count and Escherichia coli (E. coli) count. Physicochemical parameters measured were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature and many others.

Results: Pond C which was an earthen pond was found with the highest bacterial, coliform and E. coli. counts (2.8 × 105 ±0.01, 1.2 × 103 ±0.10 and 0.5 ×102 ±0.04 cfu/ml), and pond F, a concrete pond, recorded the lowest bacterial and coliform counts of (2.3 × 104 ±0.05, 0.2 × 103 ±0.00 cfu/ml respectively and insignificant E. coli count. The isolated bacteria species were Lactobacillus sp., E. coli, Klebsiella sp., Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp., Enterobacter sp. and Proteus sp. The occurrence of the isolated bacteria was highest in pond C with 71.43%. The values of turbidity and total hardness were above WHO and FEPA standards, while values of other physicochemical characteristics complied with WHO and FEPA standards. The antibiotics susceptibility test of the bacterial isolates revealed multiple antibiotics resistance.

Conclusion: The study revealed that these ponds were disgustingly infected with pathogenic bacteria that could affect cultured fishes by causing diseases, lowering the fish yield and resulting into economic loss, threatening human’s health and contaminating the environment where the effluents are discharged into.