Microbial Quality and Mineral Content of Water Consumed in Ho Municipality of Volta Region, Ghana

Water quality and safety are fundamental to human development and well-being. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the bacteriological and mineral content of water in Ho, the capital city of the Volta Region of Ghana.

Sachet, bottled, and tap water were sampled from January to February in 2019 due to the high rate of consumption and their presumed quality which were taken at random from five different locations throughout the municipality. Water quality assessment protocols were utilized to ascertain the bacteriological as well as mineral contents of the samples, whilst ANOVA was used to determine statistical difference and significance at p<0.05.

The maximum Heterotrophic Plate Count for tap water was 9.95±0.64×105 Colony Forming Unit (CFU)/ml, for sachet water was 7.46±0.09×106 CFU/ml, and for bottled water was 1.10±0.56×105 CFU/ml, all obtained on nutrient agar. For MacConkey agar, maximum growth was 2.94±0.03×106, 9.42±1.67×106, and 2.31±0.77×105 CFU/ml for tap, sachet, and bottled water, respectively. The Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate Agar indicated maximum growth of 1.84±0.34×103, 5.72±0.06×106, and 5.50±2.12×104 CFU/ml for tap, sachet, and bottled water, respectively.
The physical parameters such as pH, turbidity, color, and conductivity were within the recommended limits set by the Ghana Standards Authority. However, tap water recorded the highest turbidity, bottled water recorded the highest and least pH and turbidity, respectively. Moreover, the mineral analysis revealed high levels of phosphate (PO₄³⁻), chloride (Cl-), and sodium (Na) in bottled water, and total iron (Fe) was relatively high in several tap and sachet water samples, the latter item also recorded the highest for ammonia (NH3).

Overall, the tap, sachet, and bottled water samples exhibited varied levels of microbial, and mineral contents whilst the physical parameters were relatively within the recommended levels. The sachet and tap water were the least wholesome in comparison with the bottled water samples.