Current Research Journal of Biological Sciences 2(5): 352-355, 2010
ISSN: 2041-0778
© M axwell Scientific Organization, 2010
Submitted Date: August 09, 2010
Accepted Date: September 06, 2010
Published Date: September 15, 2010
Variations in Microbiological Water Quality of the Munzur and Pulumur River,
Tunceli, Turkey at Spring and Summer Seasons
1
N. Yildirim, 1 N. C ikcikoglu Yildirim, 2 O. K aplan, 1 A. Oztufekci Onal and 1 N. Taylan
1
Department of Environmental Engineering,
2
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tunceli University, Tunceli, Turkey
Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial contamination of the Munzur and Pulumur River
in Tunce li. For this purpose, presen ce of Pseudom onas aeruginosa, coliforms, faecal Escherichia co li,
enterococci was investigated in four water sampling stations on Munzur and Pulumur River during spring and
summer seasons. Varying levels of microbial contamination were recorded in samples from four stations. The
bacteriological analyses showed that E. coli, total coliform , P. aerugionosa and enterococci reached to above
300, 200, 200 and 300 CFU/mL, respectively at summer season. However, minimum contamination level was
recorded during spring season. The level of contamination in station 4 was higher than othe r stations, and it
seems to occur mainly in summer seaso n. Re sults of this study indicated that water quality has deteriorated in
Munzur and Pulumur Rive r, Tunceli.
Key w ords: Microbio logical pollution , Munzur River, Pu lumu r Rive r, Tunceli
INTRODUCTION
W ith the pollution of water caused by human
activities, serious health prob lems and other economic
costs related to water treatment, remediation and locating
a new water supply, become evident (Gasana et al., 2002).
W a t e r c o ul d b e ch e m ic a l ly , p h y s ic a lly, o r
micro biolog ically contaminated. Each of which is linked
to various sources and health related problems and
consequences. Two main factors determine the chemical
and microbiological composition of water quality:
artificial and natural contamination. Any microbiological
or chemical analysis of w ater reveals the joint effects of
both sources of contamination, and it is usually
impo ssible to fully identify and separate these sources
(Al-Khatib et al., 2003). The main source of
microbiological contamination is microorganisms from
human or animal excreta, which reaches humans through
contaminated water from wastewater, landfills, or
wastewater treatme nt stations, causing se rious health
problems (Gasana et al., 2002; Al-Khatib et al., 2003).
Today many dams have been built on important rivers of
Turkey primarily to obtain energy. Once the dam holds
the water, terrestrial and river environment slowly turns
into lake environme nt. Du ring this p eriod a rapid
interaction is seen between biological and ecological
systems. Dam leads to few changes especially in the
micro biolog ical quality of w ater.
Uzuncayir Dam is built on Mun zur River and has a
volume of 308 million hm 3 on a area of 13.43 m 2. Munzur
River arises from visiting the slop es of the Pilgiramge Hill
rising in the north of O vacik , Munzur, which flows with
an enormous speed in some slopy areas in the North and
Middle, flows in the direction of west-east in the m iddle
of the O vacik plateau .
In this study, samples, tak en from discharge p oints to
determine the change in water quality parameters from
points where waste is discharged into the lake, samples
from various points around the lake and samples from
points that will be located outside the dam area we re
analyzed and pollution conditions related to time were
retained by com paring the obtained results.
The main objective of presen t study wa s to identify
environmental factors determining P. aeruginosa, total
coliform, faecal E. coli, enterococci levels in the Munzur
and Pulumur Rivers. It was hoped that information from
this study might help assess the microbiological water
quality in dam lake and its relation to huma n hea lth in
Tun celi.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
It was determined 4 water sampling stations on
Munzur and Pulumur Rivers (Fig. 1) and then water
samples was collected during spring (April and May) and
summer seaso ns (June an d July), from the stations. The
microbiological dataset of four station of Tunceli during
spring and sum mer w ere obtained from the H ealth
directora te of Tunceli for this study. Fae cal E. coli and
total coliform detection followed a Mem bran Filtration
Corresponding Author: Y. Numan, Department of Environmental Engineering, Facutly of Engineering, Tunceli University,
Tunceli - 62000, Turkey
352
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 2(5): 352-355, 2010
Fig. 1: Map of Tunceli, Turkey and sampling stations
(MF) method (TS 9308-1, 2004), enterococci w ere
enumerated according to ISO 7899-2 (TS 7899-2, 2000).
P. aeruginosa were enumerated according to membran
filtration method (DS DS/EN 12780 Docum ent
Information, 2004). An advantage of the MF tech nique is
that small numbers of organisms can be detected, because
the amount of water passed through the mem brane is
restricted only by the amount of gross-suspended matter
present in water; the MF m ethod permits the analysis of
water volume s, ranging from 1 mL to as much as 10 L
(Reaso ner, 2004).
quality of Munzu r and Plumur Rivers (Table 1). Microbial
indicators of fecal contamination such as P. aeruginosa,
total coliform, faecal E. coli and enterococci w ere
indicated as CFU /100 m L. Faecal E. coli, P. aeruginosa,
total coliform were not found but enterococci was found
30 CFU/100 mL in spring at station 1. Faecal E. coli was
found 50 CFU/100 mL; enterococci was 10 CFU/100 mL;
coliform and P. aeruginosa were not determined in spring
at station 2. Faecal E. coli was 300> CFU/100 mL,
enterococci was 50 CFU/100 mL total coliform and
P. aeruginosa were not determined at station 3 in spring.
Faecal E. coli was 300 < CFU /100 mL, enterococci was
20 CFU/100 mL; total coliform and P. aeruginosa were
not determ ined at station 4 during spring seaso n. In all
station Faec al E. coli was 300 < CFU/100 mL; total
coliform was 200 < CFU /100 m L; P. aeruginosa was 200
< CFU /100 mL enterococci was 300 < CFU/100 mL
RESULTS
The results of these analyses indicated different
ranges of bacteria densities w ere establishe d trying to
evalu ate the range of CFU/mL that could assure the
353
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 2(5): 352-355, 2010
Table 1: Microbial contamination of water samples from stations
Seasons
Parameters (CFU/100 mL)
Station 1
Spring
E. co li
ND
Total C oliform
ND
P. aeuriginosa
ND
Enterecocci
30
Summer
E. co li
300<
Total C oliform
200<
P. aeuriginosa
200<
Enterecocci
300<
Station 2
50
ND
ND
10
300<
200<
200<
300<
Station 3
300<
ND
ND
50
300<
200<
200<
300<
Station 4
300<
ND
ND
20
300<
200<
200<
300<
quality. Al-Khatib et al. (2009) assesse d the
physiochemical and microbiological quality of the
dom estic water through one-year long su rveillance in
Gaza Strip, Palestine. A s far as m icrobio logical quality is
concerned, high percentages of no ncom pliance w ere
observed for total coliform and faecal coliform in most
water samples, which was also reflected by the high
incidence of water-borne diseases in Gaza Strip.
Miller et al. (2010 ) determ ined p hysical, chemical, and
microbiological variables in the Lower Little Bow R iver
in Southern Alberta, Canada. Concentrations of faecal
coliforms were generally similar at the upstream
and downstream
sites during the
four
years.
Chilundo et al. (2008) monitored water quality of network
for the Limpopo River Basin in Mozambique. The water
was found deteriorated and not meeting the guidelines for
potability at most of the assessed sites. High counts of
faecal coliforms (>2500 CFU/100 mL) were observed at
sites dow nstream urban settlements revealing high
contamination and threats that the human activities
represent for the deterioration of water in the basin. Silva
and Sacom ani (2001) defined the quality of Pardo River
water using chem ical and physical parameters. They
conclude that the degree of degradation in the Pardo River
is low. Bordalo et al. (2001) monitored water quality of
the Bangpakong River (Eastern thailand). The seasonal
results show that the river is suitab le only for tolerant fish
and wildlife species and is of doubtful use for potab le
water supply du ring the dry season .
during summ er season (T able 1). The variations of the
values within seasons are significant in microbiological
quality of M unzur an d Plumur River (Ta ble 1).
DISCUSSION
E. coli and intestinal enterococci are used worldwide
as indicators for the assessment of faecal pollution in the
aquatic environment. In fresh water, E. coli was shown to
be a consistent predictor of gastrointestinal illness
(Wade et al., 2003). Enterococci concentration has been
shown to be a reliable factor in explaining rates of
gastrointestinal illness in swimmers exposed to faecal
contaminated coastal water (USEPA, 1986). Coliforms
are also routinely found in diversified natural
environments, as some of them are of telluric origin. Th eir
presence in water must at least be considered as a possible
threat or indicative of microbiolog ical water quality
deterioration (McFeters et al., 1986 ). P. aeruginosa is an
opportunistic gram negative pathogen that causes
serious infection s in imm unocom prom ised patients
(Lyczak et al., 2002; Pollack, 20 00).
Yassin et al. (2006) evaluated microbiological water
quality and its relation to human health in Gaza
Governorate, Gaza Strip. They repo rted that total and
faecal coliform contamination in both water wells and
netw orks g enera lly exceede d that of W HO limit in Gaza
Governorate. However, the level of contamination in
networks was higher than that in wells, and it seems to
occur mainly in winter and summer seasons. This may
contribute to the prevalence of water-related diseases.
Self-reported diseases am ong interview ees in G aza C ity
were associated with source of drinking water,
intermittent water supply, sewage flooding and age of
water, and wastewater networks.
Kirschn er et al. (2009) investigated microbiological
water quality along the Danube River. Microbiological
pollution was observed in the upper and lower Danube
stretches over the investigation period. In contrast, a
significant increase in the middle part was evident. The
planned implementation of new waste water treatment
plants and advanced waste water treatment measures
according to the European Union urban wastewater
directive will have a great potential to reduce microbial
faecal pollution in the Danube and thus improving water
CONCLUSION
W ith Uzuncayir dam pro ject imp lementation in
Tun celi, it is aimed to observe especially domestic waste,
directly discharged into Munzur River and pollution threat
due to the ab sence of a trea tment facility and some
prospective and negative changes in the water quality of
Munzur River are expected to be observed. The
microbiological water quality has deteriorated in Tunceli.
Despite this, few studies have addressed the problem . In
this study the microbiological analyses show that the level
of contamination in Dam Lake was higher than other
stations. Season al variation of P. aeruginosa, total
coliforms, faecal E. coli and enterococc i contamination in
Uzuncayir Dam Lake and Munzur River found in the year
354
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 2(5): 352-355, 2010
2010 in Tunceli, the highest contamination levels w ere in
summer season. To our know ledge, this is the first report
showing that M unzur, Pulumu r Rive rs and Uzuncayir
Dam Lake’s microbiolog ical water quality.
Lyczak, J.B., C.L. Cannon and G.B. Pier, 2002. Lung
infections associated with cystic fibrosis. Clin.
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Miller, J., D. Chanasy k, T. C urtis, T. Entz and
W . Willms, 2010. Influence of streambank fencing
with a cattle crossing on riparian health and water
quality of the Low er Little Bow River in So uthern
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McF eters, G.A., J.S. Kippin and M .W . LeCh evallier,
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Many thanks to all members of the team in H ealth
Directorate of Tunceli for their help in data collection.
Special thanks to Y 2lmaz Arici for their valuable
suggestions.
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