Water Quality of Three Recreational Beach Resorts in Misamis Oriental, Philippines

This research tries to assess the water quality of selected beach resorts in Misamis Oriental by examining the presence of coliform bacteria, load of organic matter and its decomposition and some physical properties for the purpose of determining if the recreational waters in the area meet the quality standard. Water quality assessment of the of recreational beaches in Misamis Oriental were measured using the following parameters: a) Physical water quality in terms of salinity, temperature and turbidity; b) Organic load and decomposition such as Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS); and c) Coliform Analysis.  All standard protocols in determining analysis were utilized and carefully followed. These data were collected for three month period starting from January to March 2008. The samples were collected for the months of January 2007 to March 2008. In each of the three-month sampling period, there were two samplings for every month; one during low tide and another one during high tide. Water samples were collected by using sterilized containers. Three stations were established namely: Station 1 (Bayabas), Station 2 (Bonbon) and station 3 (Opol). Total Suspended Solids (TSS) range from 1.89g/1000ml to 0.35g/1000ml. The highest TSS is in station 1 (Bayabas) while the lowest is found in station 3 (Opol), on the average, Station 2 (Bonbon) yielded the highest TSS while Station 3(Opol) got the lowest. Meanwhile, Biochemical Oxygen Demand highest recorded was19.5mg/L in February at Station 2(Bobon). On the average, the highest Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) recorded in station 1 (Bayabas) while station 3 has the lowest BOD among the stations. Highest Count of Coliform bacteria were recorded during high tide in Station 2 (Bonbon) and the lowest were recorded in Station 1(Bayabas) during low tide. In general, the trend as follows: Station 2>Station 3>Station 1. It is also indicated that among the variables correlated with bacterial load, only salinity did not necessary correlate the bacterial load. Thus, salinity does not practically affect the population of bacteria in this study. All stations (Bayabas, Bonbon, Opol) more than exceeds the US standard for recreational water quality for bathing. It implies that our beaches are not safe for bathing according to the US standard.

 

Keywords: Water quality, Recreational beach resorts, Coliform bacteria, load of organic matter