Evaluation of coliform (E. coli) load of the drinking water collected from Kosti and Rabak Cities, White Nile State, Sudan

Microbial drinking-water quality testing plays an essential role in measures to protect public health. However, such testing remains a significant challenge where resources are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the coliform load of drinking water from White Nile State. Samples of the drinking water were collected from Kosti and Rabak, White Nile State, Sudan, in clean disposable plastic bottles from random sites. The estimation of E. coli bacterium test was performed in Microbiology Laboratory, University of Gezira. The results showed that, Rabak samples had high mean number (92 + 22.27) of colonies/plate than Kosti samples (29.33 + 14.11), and this denotes a significant difference between them during (March, 2022), but those samples collected during (October 2022) and (March 2023) showed non-significant differences in microbial count, although Rabak samples showed high mean number of colonies/plate than Kosti samples. It was also noticed that, the contamination of the drinking water increased gradually throughout the study periods and sites. This reflect the increase in the organic waste and decrease in treatment of pollutants in both Kosti and Rabak cities during the study period.