ANALYSIS OF PHYSICOHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND PREVALENCE OF ENTAMOEBA HISTOLYTICA IN WATER DRAWN FROM CAST AND NON-CAST WELLS IN ZARIA, NIGERIA

The availability and accessibility of drinking water is important for the development of any community. Lack of access to safe drinking water eludes millions of people every day. As a result, waterborne diseases have become a serious threat throughout the world, especially in developing countries with poor conditions of public health. This study was designed to assess the physicochemical and parasitological quality of well water samples obtained from Zaria communities and to compare the level of contamination between wells with internal wall casting (cast wells) and wells without internal wall casting (non-cast wells). A total of 142 wells (53, 44 and 45 wells from Samaru, Sabon-gari and Tudun wada respectively from both cast and non-cast wells) were collected for a period of six months encompassing both rainy and dry seasons (July to September for rainy season and November to January for dry season). Water samples from these wells were collected and analyzed for temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS), and for the presence of cysts of Entamoeba histolytica. Temperature and pH had values that were within the normal ranges of 20⁰C-32⁰C and 6.5-8.5 respectively. EC and TDS had values beyond the acceptable limits of 180-500µS/cm and 300-500mg/L respectively. An overall prevalence of 27.5% was recorded for Entamoeba histolytica cysts in the study area and the parasite cysts were higher in cast wells (30.5%) than in non-cast wells (23.3%). The presence of Entamoeba histolytica in these wells is of public health significance considering its implications in gastrointestinal diseases, and suggests that water obtained from these wells are not suitable for domestic purposes without adequate treatment.