Vol 9, Issue 3, 2021 ISSN- 2321-6832 EFFECTS OF THE REUSE OF UNTREATED WATER FROM THE AVO’O RIVER (CAMEROON) CONTAMINATED BY FECAL SLUDGE FOR THE GROWTH OF SOLANUM NIGRUM L. TSAMA VN*, KOM FM, DJUYOM WV, KONE N, FONKOU T Research Unit in Applied Botany, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon. Email: tsama80@yahoo.fr Received: 13 February 2021, Revised and Accepted: 21 May 2021 ABSTRACT Objective: The main objective of this research was to evaluate the growth parameters and sanitary quality of Solanum nigrum L. irrigated with polluted water from Avo’o river in Nomayos. Methods: Faecal sludge, water from Avo’o River and Solanum nigrum L., were analysed with respect to microbiological and parasitological parameters. Four points (S0: Control site, located in Mbankomo at 3 km away from faecal sludge discharge area; S1: located at 810 m before the faecal sludge discharge area; S2: located at 100 m away from the faecal sludge discharge area; and S3: located at 350 m after the faecal sludge discharge area) were considered for sampling events. For faecal indicator (FC: Faecal coliforms and FS: Faecal Streptococci), the membrane filtration method was used. Helminthes eggs were determined using the method of Bailenger, modified by Rodier. The growth parameters of S. nigrum L., measured in different site mentioned above, were plant height, number, length and width of fresh leaves. Results: High concentration of FC (6857 ± 5180) and FS (2500 ± 1876 CFU/100 ml), as well as helminths eggs (273 ± 186 eggs/L) were obtained in Avo’o water samples. The strong correlations (r=0.9) clearly show that the waters of the Avo’o stream influence the growth of S. nigrum L. Conclusion: Despite the best growth of Solanum Nigrum L. irrigated with water from Avo’o River, high concentration of parasites was obtained on their leaves (43 eggs/100 g) highlight the necessity of a better management of faecal sludge in this city. Keywords: Avo’o River, Fecal sludge, Growth parameters, Solanum nigrum L. INTRODUCTION In urban areas of many developing countries, the excreta disposal location is dramatic. Every day, all around the world, thousands of tons of sludge from onsite sanitation systems, such as traditional latrines, public toilets, and septic tanks are disposed of without previous treatment [1-3]. During the past decade, an increasing number of countries have explored the possibility of municipal wastewater and sludge reuse [4-7]. The use of wastewater for irrigation and municipal sludge utilization is becoming widely practiced not only in countries with a water deficit but also in countries with a more temperate climate. The method as well as the extent of reuse, however, varies according to the local infrastructure and the circumstances prevailing in each country. Faced with rapid population growth, cities in developing countries are subject to food insecurity and high levels of unemployment. Urban agriculture, a booming business, seems to be an additional way for the reduction of unemployment and provides food security to the city. In effect, many people have taken refuge in the production of vegetables, especially in lowlands and swamps which are floodplains with permanent moisture and richness in organic matter [7-12]. Many studies have shown the effect of wastewaters on the growth and productivity of plants in various countries of the world. Actually, the work of Mercanoglutaban and Halkman [13], Djaouda et al. [14], FAO [15], Fouepe et al. [16] focused on the evaluation of the biomass of several species of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Acacia cyanophylus, and Populus nigra mentioned that P. nigra plants showed the greatest growth in height while Cyanophylus and Acacia manifested highest growth in diameter. Furthermore, the highest biomass was generated by A. cyanophylus, followed by Arundo donax, while biomass generation was low for Eucalyptus sp., and lowest for Populus nigra. In a recent work, the feasibility of using wastewater and sludge from secondary sewage treatments plants was studied in forest plant species of Pinus brutia (Greek origin) and Pinus maritime [14,17,18]. The present research work was conducted in a peri-urban area of Yaounde call Nomayos. It aimed at evaluated the effect of various treatment combinations of ordinary water and water contaminated by fecal sludge on the growth characteristics of Solanum nigrum L. The objectives were as follows: (a) To characterize different kinds of water used for irrigation of S. nigrum L. in the study area, (b) to evaluate the growth parameters of the plant, and (c) to evaluate the sanitary risks associated to the Solanum nigrum L. produced by farmers. METHODS Site description This work was carried out along the borders of two rivers at Nomayos, a locality near Yaoundé which serves as indiscriminate dumping site of sludge collected by vacuum trucks from onsite sanitations in Yaounde (Fig. 1). The site has a surface area of about 300 m 2 and receives approximately 1350 m 3 of untreated fecal sludge per week. Methodology Samples of faecal sludge, water from Avo’o River and S. nigrum L., were analyzed with respect to microbiological and parasitological parameters. For this, 4 points (S0: Control site, located in Mbankomo 3 km away from faecal sludge discharge area; S1: Site one located at 810 m before the faecal sludge discharge area; S2: Site 2 located 100 m away from the faecal sludge discharge area; and S3: Site 3 located 350 m after the faecal sludge discharge area) were considered for sampling events. Looking microbiological analyses, fecal streptococci and fecal coliforms were determined in each sample using the membrane filtration protocol described by Rodier [19], WHO [20] for parasitological analysis, helminthes eggs were determined using the Research Article © 2021 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ijags.2021v9i3.40833. Journal homepage: https://innovareacademics.in/journals/index.php/ijags