Potable water is a fundamental human right and if contaminated with opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, may have health implications on consumers (Erah et al., 2002). The impact of river pollution on human health depends mainly on the water uses, as well as the concentration of pathogens in the water (Edema et al., 2001). Most streams in Nigeria are subjected to pollution from contaminated urban run-off water from health care institutions, industrial, agricultural, residential, commercial and recreational areas (Uzoigwe and Agwa, 2012).
The quality of water is identified in terms of its physical, chemical and biological parameters (Okonko et al., 2008; Okpokwasili and Akujobi, 1996). Surface water sources do not always meet required standards and as such have to undergo various treatment processes to improve the quality of the water in a bid to ensure and protect public health (Kumarasamy et al., 2009), Conformation with acceptable standard is of special interest because of the capacity of water to spread diseases within a large population (Edema et al.,