Bacteriological assessment of drinking water from hand-pump-fitted borehole sources in Kola Tembien, Central Tigray, northern Ethiopia

Drinking water from hand-pump-fitted borehole sources is considered as safe and suitable for human use due to a purification property of the soil. However, the water from these sources can be contaminated as a result of inadequate treatment and waste disposal from humans and livestock. This study aimed to determine the bacterial contamination level of drinking water from hand-pump-fitted borehole sources, the associated risk factor and its antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. Seventy-five hand-pump-fitted boreholes were selected randomly. Total coliforms and Escherichia coli count from water samples were performed using membrane filtration technique. MacConkey agar media was used for both samples and isolates were identified by standard microbiological methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out against seven antibiotics. About 11 (15%) hand-pump-fitted boreholes drinking water and 32 (42.6%) of swab samples showed culture positive. The colony counts for total coliforms and E. coli from water samples were 20–140 CFU/100 mL and 40–80 CFU/100 mL, respectively. E. coli, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Citrobacter, Salmonella, and Pseudomonas sp. were the predominant isolated bacteria. E. coli and Salmonella sp. were found to be sensitive to all antibiotics and high level resistance was revealed by Klebsiella sp.