Abstract

Odjadjare E. E. O.*, Igbinosa E. O. and Okoh A. I.

We evaluated the microbial (listerial) and physicochemical quality of a reclaimed municipal wastewater (RW) used for irrigation and aquaculture in South Africa between August 2007 and July 2008. Listerial density in RW ranged between 9.6 × 103 and 2.8 × 105 cfu/100 ml. pH varied from 6.7 to 7.75 while temperature ranged between 18 and 27°C. Turbidity varied between 1.6 and 19 NTU whereas chemical oxygen demand (COD) ranged from 10 to 965 mg/l. Total dissolved solids (TDS) for RW varied between 288 and 715 mg/l while dissolved oxygen (DO) ranged between 0.14 and 6.1 mg/l. Other parameters recorded the following values after wastewater reclamation: Nitrate (0.27 – 6.8 mg NO3 -N/l); Nitrite (0.12 - 6.3 mg NO 2 - N/l); and Orthophosphate (PO4 3- ) (0.08 – 2.17 mg PO4 3- P/l). Although the physicochemical quality of the RW was generally compliant with recommended standards, its microbial quality disqualifies it for use in agriculture and aq