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Microbiology of Seawater and Sand in a Selected Bathing Site of Sri Lanka – A Study Towards Microbial Quality Assessment

Received: 6 October 2016     Accepted: 12 January 2017     Published: 8 May 2017
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Abstract

The presence of many types of microorganisms, including potential pathogens has been reported as an integral part of coastal management programs in many countries. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the seawater collected from a selected bathing site in the West coast of Sri Lanka, for pollution indicating bacterial parameters. Sand samples were subjected to similar evaluation. Two sites were selected from this location to collect samples. The following microbial parameters were analyzed in the collected samples: enterococci, total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli, Pseudomonas sp. and Staphylococcus sp. In addition, physical parameters such as temperature, pH and conductivity were also measured in collected samples. Enterococci counts generally varied from 09 - <1600 (MPN/100 ml). The statistical analysis revealed that counts of enterococci, coliforms, thermotolerent coliforms and E. coli were not significantly different at two sites in both seawater and sand samples. The average enterococci and total coliform counts in beach sand were higher than that of seawater. However, E. coli showed a higher average count as 228 (MPN/100ml) in seawater than 72 (MPN/100 ml) in beach sand. Bacteria belonging to species of Vibrio, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Listeria were identified from both seawater and sand. The sampled seawater was characterized by a salinity of 20-33 (ppt) and varying pH of 6.7 – 8.20. Based on the obtained results for enterococci, the selected location was provisionally classified in the D category as per WHO guidelines. However microbiological quality of the seawater as per the water quality guidelines depends upon which indicator microbe is chosen.

Published in Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12
Page(s) 9-18
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Microbial Quality of Seawater & Sand, Enteroccocus, Coliforms, E. coli

References
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    Kaumadi Samarasekera, Sriyanie Indrika Abeygunawardena. (2017). Microbiology of Seawater and Sand in a Selected Bathing Site of Sri Lanka – A Study Towards Microbial Quality Assessment. Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology, 3(1), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12

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    Kaumadi Samarasekera; Sriyanie Indrika Abeygunawardena. Microbiology of Seawater and Sand in a Selected Bathing Site of Sri Lanka – A Study Towards Microbial Quality Assessment. Front. Environ. Microbiol. 2017, 3(1), 9-18. doi: 10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12

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    Kaumadi Samarasekera, Sriyanie Indrika Abeygunawardena. Microbiology of Seawater and Sand in a Selected Bathing Site of Sri Lanka – A Study Towards Microbial Quality Assessment. Front Environ Microbiol. 2017;3(1):9-18. doi: 10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12,
      author = {Kaumadi Samarasekera and Sriyanie Indrika Abeygunawardena},
      title = {Microbiology of Seawater and Sand in a Selected Bathing Site of Sri Lanka – A Study Towards Microbial Quality Assessment},
      journal = {Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {9-18},
      doi = {10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.fem.20170301.12},
      abstract = {The presence of many types of microorganisms, including potential pathogens has been reported as an integral part of coastal management programs in many countries. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the seawater collected from a selected bathing site in the West coast of Sri Lanka, for pollution indicating bacterial parameters. Sand samples were subjected to similar evaluation. Two sites were selected from this location to collect samples. The following microbial parameters were analyzed in the collected samples: enterococci, total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli, Pseudomonas sp. and Staphylococcus sp. In addition, physical parameters such as temperature, pH and conductivity were also measured in collected samples. Enterococci counts generally varied from 09 - E. coli were not significantly different at two sites in both seawater and sand samples. The average enterococci and total coliform counts in beach sand were higher than that of seawater. However, E. coli showed a higher average count as 228 (MPN/100ml) in seawater than 72 (MPN/100 ml) in beach sand. Bacteria belonging to species of Vibrio, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Listeria were identified from both seawater and sand. The sampled seawater was characterized by a salinity of 20-33 (ppt) and varying pH of 6.7 – 8.20. Based on the obtained results for enterococci, the selected location was provisionally classified in the D category as per WHO guidelines. However microbiological quality of the seawater as per the water quality guidelines depends upon which indicator microbe is chosen.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Microbiology of Seawater and Sand in a Selected Bathing Site of Sri Lanka – A Study Towards Microbial Quality Assessment
    AU  - Kaumadi Samarasekera
    AU  - Sriyanie Indrika Abeygunawardena
    Y1  - 2017/05/08
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12
    T2  - Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology
    JF  - Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology
    JO  - Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology
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    EP  - 18
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2469-8067
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20170301.12
    AB  - The presence of many types of microorganisms, including potential pathogens has been reported as an integral part of coastal management programs in many countries. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the seawater collected from a selected bathing site in the West coast of Sri Lanka, for pollution indicating bacterial parameters. Sand samples were subjected to similar evaluation. Two sites were selected from this location to collect samples. The following microbial parameters were analyzed in the collected samples: enterococci, total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli, Pseudomonas sp. and Staphylococcus sp. In addition, physical parameters such as temperature, pH and conductivity were also measured in collected samples. Enterococci counts generally varied from 09 - E. coli were not significantly different at two sites in both seawater and sand samples. The average enterococci and total coliform counts in beach sand were higher than that of seawater. However, E. coli showed a higher average count as 228 (MPN/100ml) in seawater than 72 (MPN/100 ml) in beach sand. Bacteria belonging to species of Vibrio, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Listeria were identified from both seawater and sand. The sampled seawater was characterized by a salinity of 20-33 (ppt) and varying pH of 6.7 – 8.20. Based on the obtained results for enterococci, the selected location was provisionally classified in the D category as per WHO guidelines. However microbiological quality of the seawater as per the water quality guidelines depends upon which indicator microbe is chosen.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

  • Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

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