Changes in land use for development purposes in the upper catchment of the Mara River Basin have threatened the water quantity of its major tributaries. This study investigated the effect of human settlement and development on the microbial water quality at various points along the channel of Nyangores River using Membrane Filtration Technique (MFT) to determine the densities of total coliforms, Escherichia coli, intestinal enterococci and Clostridium perfringens. Pollution with easily biodegradable organic matter was detected by Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) procedures and BOD5 determination. Temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids and pH of the water sources were also measured at the time of sampling using appropriate measuring Meters. The collected data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 software with a confident level of 95%. The results indicated spatial variation in the densities of faecal contamination and easily degradable organic matter indicators, p<0.05. Physico-chemical parameters studied also showed significant spatial variation except DO, p<0.05. In conclusion, the presence of anthropogenic activities along Nyangores River have impacted negatively on quality of its water and therefore appropriate corrective mechanisms are necessary to help improve and restore its water and uphold its ecological integrity.

Changes in the densities of faecal and organic matter contaminants from upstream to downstream along Nyangores River of Mara catchment, Kenya

USAID Mara Basin Water Scholars Program through the Trans-boundary Water for Biodiversity and Human Health in the Mara River Basin, Kenya and Tanzania (TWBMRB) Global Water for Sustainability (GLOWS) Program, Florida International University

Impact of anthropogenic activities on bacteriological water quality of Nyangores River, Mara basin-Kenya

An increasing impact of human activities in environment is noticed during the last decades. The socialeconomic development has been accompanied by considerable changes in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. One of our duties is to monitor continuously human impact in environment and for this reason we decided to monitor water quality of Vjosa River, as one of most important rivers in south of Albania, based on microbiological indicators during 2011. Vjosa is a transboundary river, shared between Greece and Albania, whose spring is in Pindi Mountains. Its total length is about 272 kilometres, of which the first 80 kilometres are in Greece, and the remaining 192 kilometres are in Albania, where it passes through many urban areas and a relatively high human impact is expected. Samples are collected almost every month from March 2011 in six stations along the river. MPN index is used for evaluation of total coliform bacteria in water, while the number of heterotrophic bacteria is determined by counting colonies on plates with PCA, cultivated with 0.1 ml sample after a serries dilutions. Environmental parameters like pH, temperature, turbidity, ammonia, phosphate, nitrite and dissolved oxygen are estimated using standard methods. According to preliminary results, as it was expected, there is a high load of feacal coliform bacteria and heterotrophs in sample stations near urban areas. A seasonal change is observed in bacterial parameters. The human impact in the quality of water of Vjosa river is more than evident.

O. Dahriu

Papers

Water Quality from Microbiological Point of View of Vjosa River, Albania