Effects Of Well Casting, Septic System Distance And Topography On Incidences Of Giardia Lamblia And Entamoeba Histolytica In Wells Of Samaru-Zaria, Nigeria

The presence of parasitic protozoa in well water poses threats to the wellbeing of humans and potability of water. Water is the most universally used solvent. Diseases can be transmitted through water. Most Nigerian rural and urban areas rely much on hand-dug well water. The people have little or virtually no essential awareness of the possible presence and danger of pathogenic microorganisms in well water. This study was aimed at finding the incidences of Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica in hand-dug wells with cast and those without cast walls in Samaru-Zaria, Nigeria. Many of these wells are uncared for, dirty and dug too close to septic systems. From randomly selected hand-dug wells in the area, seventy water samples were collected. Membrane filtration technique was employed in filtering the samples at a flow rate of 3 liters/min through Millipore filter paper of nominal porosity of 0.45µm. The incidence of G. lamblia was 43.6% and 25.8% in wells with cast walls and those without cast walls respectively. Also, the incidence of E. histolytica in wells with cast walls and those without cast walls was 48.7% and 25.8% respectively. There was no occurrence of G. lamblia in wells in the ranges above 30 meters, but E. histolytica occurred in all (p ≤ 0.05).