Bacteriological quality of the water and sand in two beaches on the coastal zone of Ceará State

Abstract

The microbiological quality of the coastal water and beach sand in its dry and wet conditions, especially those  located in areas with high urban and industrial development, should be a constant concern of public bodies. In the period  from February to May of 2012, a surveillance was carried out in Iguape and Presidio Beaches, both in Aquiraz county,  Ceará State. The aims of this research were to make quantitative comparisons among the bacterial microbiota present in  the above-mentioned environments by means of the following features: MPN of thermotolerant coliforms (TC),  Escherichia coli (E. coli) and  Enterococcus (ENT), as well as yeast counts in the sediment. The technique used to  estimate the population of TC,  E. coli and  Enterococcus spp, was of the multiple-tube method and standard plate count  (SPC) to determine the population of yeasts. According to the results, the water and dry and wet sands of Iguape Beach  showed greater risk situations than those of Presidio Beach. The dry sand proved to be more contaminated than the than  the wet sand. Effective monitoring action has been suggested for the health authorities to try and eliminate sources of  contamination by pathogenic bacteria to man.