

@conference {729,
	title = {DETECTION OF FECAL COLIFORM BACTERIA AND HETEROTROPHIC PLATE COUNT BACTERIA ATTACHED TO HOUSEHOLD CONTAINERS DURING THE STORAGE OF DRINKING GROUNDWATER IN A RURAL COMMUNITY},
	booktitle = {WISA 2000 Biennial Conference, Sun City, South Africa},
	year = {2000},
	month = {07/2006},
	abstract = {<div class="rtejustify">The study covered on Mgquba village (Eastern Cape) revealed that 90\% of families use drinking groundwater from the standpipes. Seventy four percent of the population use polyethylene (PE) containers and 26\% galvanized steel (GS) containers for the storage of their drinking water. The average duration of storage of water also varied: 6\% store water for about 1-2 days; 14 \% for about 3 days; 18 \% for few hours ({\textpm} 5-12 h) and 2\% for about 7 days. This study considered the average duration of 3 days. Seven standpipes were used to monitor bacterial quality of drinking groundwater. The detection of fecal coliform and heterotrophic plate count (HPC) bacteria attached on the surfaces of household containers during the storage of drinking groundwater was performed by exposing PE and GS coupons in the appropriate household containers for a period of 72 h. The experiment was performed as the rural communities normally collect and store their water. Membrane filter and spread plate procedure were used to enumerate fecal coliform and HPC attached to household containers, respectively. The adhesion of HPC bacteria on the PE and GS surfaces was obvious within 24h after exposure. The yield in HPC bacteria was significantly higher on PE than on GS coupons (p\&lt;0.003) during the study period. A comparison between source waters showed that attached HPC bacteria on PE and GS appeared to be significantly different both within the various standpipes and also between the various standpipes. While the attachment of fecal coliform was visible on PE coupons exposed to drinking water from standpipes 4 and 5, no fecal coliforms were detected on GS coupons during the study period. This study indicated that PE containers enhanced the growth of Escherichia coli when compared to GS containers. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that rural communities must consider the GS containers for the storage of their drinking groundwater.</div>
},
	author = {M NB Momba and B. V. Mnqumevu}
}
