Afamefuna Dunkwu-Okafor

Solid waste management is of global concern in both developing and developed countries. Despite much awareness aimed at reducing the waste generated due to anthropogenic activities, there has been an increase in solid waste generation throughout the world. Inefficient management of these dumpsites causes uncontrolled gas and liquid emissions such as leachates. The study focused on assessing the bacteriological analysis of municipal solid waste leachate in Benin city. The objectives included isolation and enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria and coliform present in MSW leachate. Raw landfill leachate samples were collected from landfill site (open dumpsite) having low lying land area located at St savior and Iguomo in Benin City and was analyzed for the cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics of bacterial isolates. The result shows the four bacteria isolated from the leachate sites (St. Savior and Iguomo) which includes: Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericha coli and Serratia marcescens. The bacterial isolates showed varying levels of which is higher at Iguomo leachate (4.9 log10 cfu/g) sites as compared to St. savior leachate sites (4.6 log10 cfu/g) and the Coliform count was also slightly higher at Iguomo leachate sites (3.8 log10 cfu/g) as compared to St. savior leachate sites (3.3 log10 cfu/g). The level of coliforms, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericha coli and Serratia marcescens exceeded the EPA recommended limits for irrigation and for waste water discharged into the environment. Based on the findings of this study, there is the need to effectively review waste disposal system Nigeria. To forestall leaching of pollutants into water bodies, location of dumpsites should be at an appreciable distance to our water bodies. In addition, municipal dumpsites should be replaced with proper engineered landfills.