COMPARISON OF TOTAL BACTERIAL COUNT IN CALABAR RIVER AND THE GREAT KWA RIVER

ABSTRACT The study was aimed at comparing the bacterial count from the Calabar River and the Great Kwa River in Cross River State, Nigeria, using standard Microbiological and analytical procedures. Water samples were collected from the two rivers into a sterile ice packed container and taken to the Microbiology laboratory of the University of Cross River State for analysis. The bacterial count obtained from Calabar River ranges from 1.01x10⁵CFU/mL to 1.26x10⁵CFU/ml, while the counts in Kwa River range from 1.90x10⁵CFU/mL to 2.46x10⁵CFU/mL respectively. The highest bacterial count was observed from KR1 having a bacterial count of 2.46x10⁵CFU/mL, followed by KR2 having a count of 2.15x10⁵CFU/ml, while the lowest count was observed from CR4 having a count of 1.01x10⁵CFU/mL. The suspected bacteria were Bacillus spp, Micrococcus spp, Shigella spp, Salmonella spp, and Klebsiella spp. The most prevalent bacteria were Salmonella spp, with a percentage occurrence of 37.5%, followed by Bacillus spp, with a percentage occurrence of 25%, and the lowest prevalent bacteria were Shigella spp, Klebsiella spp, and Micrococcus spp with a percentage occurrence of 12.5% respectively.