African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (20), pp. 1963-1968, 16 October 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Microbial content of abattoir wastewater and its contaminated soil in Lagos, Nigeria

Adesemoye A. O.¹*, Opere B. O.² and Makinde S. C. O.³

¹Microbiology Department, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State,

Nigeria.

²Microbiology Department, Lagos State University, Ojo, P. M. B. 1087, Apapa, Lagos,

Nigeria.

³Department of Botany and Centre for Environment and Science Education, Lagos State

University, Ojo, P. M. B. 1087, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: semoyet@yahoo.co.uk

Accepted 25 August, 2006

Microbial content of wastewater in two abattoirs and the impact on microbial population of receiving soil was studied in Agege and Ojo Local Government Areas in Lagos State, Nigeria.  Wastewater samples were collected from each of the abattoirs over three months period and examined for microbial content. Soil samples contaminated with the wastewaters were also collected and analysed for microbial content as compared to soil without wastewater contamination in the neighbourhood (control). Some physico-chemical parameters of the samples such as total dissolved solid, chemical oxygen demand etc were examined. The wastewater samples from both abattoirs were highly contaminated; Agege abattoir showed mean bacterial count of 3.32x10⁷ cfu/ml and Odo abattoir showed mean count of 2.7x10⁷ cfu/ml. The mean fungal populations were 1.6x 10⁵  and 1.2x0⁵ cfu/ml for Agege and Odo abattoirs respectively. In the contaminated soil sample, mean bacterial count was 3.36x10⁷ cfu/ml compared to the 1.74x10⁶ cfu/ml of the control sample. High microbial load in abattoir wastewater with negative effects on microbial population in soil, in this study, further confirmed the need to treat wastewater rather than discharging it to the environment.

Key words: Abattoir, bacteria, environmental pollution, fungi, microbial population, soil, wastewater.