Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2013, 5, 1013-1017 Published Online November 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jwarp) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2013.511106 Open Access JWARP Bacteriological Analysis of Well Water Sources in the Bambui Student Residential Area Niba Rawlings Ngwa * , Nchang Chrysanthus Department of Medical and Biomedical Science, National Polytechnic Bambui, Bamenda, Cameroon Email: * rawlingston@yahoo.com, nbngwa@gmail.com Received May 13, 2013; revised June 16, 2013; accepted July 12, 2013 Copyright © 2013 Niba Rawlings Ngwa, Nchang Chrysanthus. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Com- mons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Majority of the population in the Bambui student residential area depend on wells as their source of water supply. Due to increasing complaints from students after using this well water sources, this study was carried out to examine the microbial quality of well water sources in the Bambui student residential area, Bamenda, Cameroon as a way of safe guarding public health against water borne diseases. Water samples from a total of fifteen wells, covered and uncovered were assessed for their bacteriological quality using the multiple tube fermentation technique to determine the coliform count using the most probable number method. Positive tubes of the presumptive test were further cultured on appropri- ate solid media. The organisms isolated were further characterized using standard procedures. The result of the study revealed that most of the wells were grossly contaminated with bacteria pathogens such as Klebsiella species (95%), Escherichia coli (52%) and Salmonella typhi (32.5%). Comparatively, the uncovered wells were more contaminated with bacteria pathogens than the covered well. All the water samples except three exceeded the standard limit of the most probable number (MPN) per 100 ml set for untreated drinking water by the World Health Organization. This result highlight the fact that most well water sources in the Bambui student residential area metropolis are not safe microbio- logically for drinking without additional treatment such as boiling or disinfection and this could lead to outbreak of wa- ter borne diseases. Good and proper environmental and personal hygiene must be maintained especially by the users of these wells to prevent their contamination with bacterial pathogens. Wells should also be properly constructed. Keywords: Well Water; Bacteriological Analysis; Bacterial Pathogens; Water Borne; Disease 1. Introduction Water of good drinking quality is of basic importance to human physiology as well as indispensable to man’s con- tinued existence [1]. Domestic water is generally suppli- ed to homes through private wells or public water com- panies. Water supplied by public water companies is usu- ally safe to drink and does not pose a health risk. The quality of the water supplied by these companies is peri- odically checked. Water supplied by a private source is also usually safe to drink; however, it can be contaminat- ed by harmful bacteria resulting from faulty septic tanks, chemicals from a toxic spill that occurred years before, leaking underground storage tanks, or pesticides and fer- tilizers. The only way to tell whether the water is potable is to have it tested. Unavailability of municipal water supply (provided by CDE) and lack of community water supply to the Bambui student residential area, resulting to the use of untreated well water sources have pose a great health risk to the members of this community. There have been a lot of complains on health problems such as skin rashes, abdominal discomfort and others by students after using well water sources for drinking bathing and other domestic purposes. Guideline for bacteriological water differs from country to country but they all conform to WHO recommendation. The standards for drinking water are more stringent than those for recreational waters. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Study Area and Sampling Water samples from fifteen wells were randomly collect- ed for bacteriological analysis. Well water constitutes the major source of drinking, bathing and other domestic purposes in this area. Most of the wells under study were * Corresponding author.