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66
Levels of bacterial and chemical pollutants in
Euphrates River in Samawah, Iraq
Hayder H. Abed1*, Zainab Y. Kadhim1, Saif M. Abed1, Zahra S. Mahdi1
INTRODUCTION
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most
historically important rivers of Iraq. Euphrates flows
through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab,
which empties into the Arabian Gulf. It is a vital resource to
communities, agriculture and industry in Turkey, Syria and
Iraq. Since 2013 the river has become a focus for conflict
as forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)
have seized territory along its course and used control over
its waters to exert influence, But the health of this river and
its tributaries was already endangered well before the
Syrian crisis began in 2011. Rapid and uncoordinated dev-
elopment has affected the river’s flow. Some 32 dams and
barrages have been constructed over the last 50 years.
Growth in water-intensive agriculture, pesticide use and
industry has wrought havoc on downstream water quality
and ecology [1]. River sediments are a major carrier of
heavy metals in the aquatic environment. Sediments are
mixture of several components of mineral species as well
as organic debris, represent as ultimate sink for heavy
metals discharged into environment [2,3]. Chemical
leaching of bedrocks, water drainage basins and run off
from banks are the primary sources of heavy metals [4].
Heavy metals are serious pollutants because of their
toxicity, persistence and non-degradability in the environ-
ABSTRACT
In present study biological and chemical pollution of Euphrates River in Samawah city in Iraq were studies. Samples were
collecting from three places; al-Majed area, Samawah city and al-Khader city. This study included analysis of five heavy
metals in the river (Pb, Fe, Cu, Cd and Zn); the study also included some bacterial pollution in the river in the three
places. The study involving total Plate Count of the aerobic microbes in addition to isolation and identification of some
bacterial isolates that present in the stream of river in the studied places. The results showed difference in concentration
of metals in the river and increase in the concentrations, especially in al-Khader city due to pollution in Samawah city also
the bacteriological study showed presence of different bacterial species;
Escherichia coli
(24.5%),
Enterobacter aerogenes
(10.11%),
Salmonella spp
(4.79%),
Klebsiella pneumonia
(20.3%)
, Proteus mirbalis
(11.45 %),
Proteus vulgaris
(7.55%),
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(7.21),
Staphylococcus aureus
(8.91%),
Staphylococcus epidermids
(5.18 %),
E. coli
represented the main bacteria as compared with others bacteria. The study showed increase in the five studies heavy
metals concentrations in AL-Khader city especifically in case of copper and lead.
Keywords: Al-Khader, Al-Majed, Euphrates, Heavy metals, Samawah,
Citation: Abed HH, Kadhim ZY, Abed SM, Mahdi ZS. (2016) Levels of bacterial and chemical pollutants in Euphrates
river in Samawah, Iraq. World J Exp Biosci 4: 66-69.
Received February 2, 2016; Accepted February 23, 2016; Published March 6, 2016.
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Research article
Copyright: © 2016, Abed.HH et al.. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any site, provided the original author and
source are credited.
Volume 4, Number 1: 66-69
ISSN: 2313-3937
2016
*Correspondence: Abed.HH.Hayderhussein86@yahoo.com.
Department of Physiology and chemistry, Veterinary Medicine College, Muthanna University, Samawah, Iraq.
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article.
67
ment [5,6]. To date, many researchers have conducted
extensive surveys of heavy metal contamination in
Euphrates [7,8]. The results demonstrated that accum-
ulation of heavy metals has occurred in sediments of
different regions. Limited surveys have been undertaken to
study distribution of heavy metals in the Euphrates River
[9,10]. The aim of this study is evaluating the chemical and
biological contamination of Euphrates River in Samawah
city, at three different location, first before river entering
Samawah city, at al-Majed area, second place at Samawah
city, third place after Samawah city at Al-Khader city. The
concentration of chemical elements in ppm unit detected in
the river depend on using atomic absorption, whereas
biological method to evaluate bacterial presence (Total
Plate Count), aerobic microbes in addition to isolation and
identification of some bacteria that present in the stream of
river in the three different places. The study aims, analysis
bacterial and chemical pollution of Euphrates River in Iraq,
Samawah city.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Samples collection
Thirty water samples were collected from three places in
Euphrates River during three months from January to
march 2015: First ten samples were collected from first
place located before river entering Samawah city at al -
Majed area. Second ten samples were collected from the
river in second place in Samawah city. Third ten samples
were collected from the river in third place located after the
Samawah city at al-khader city.
Heavy metals detection
Five elements, lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Cadmium
(Cd) and zinc were analysis by atomic absorption in Kufa
university, College of Science. The concentration was
determined by ppm .
Isolation and Identification of Bacteria
Bacterial isolates were identified according to Bergeys
manual using different morphologic and biochemical tests
[11]. The samples were inoculated in Brain heart infusion
broth, incubated at 37 oC for 24 h. The growing bacteria on
the medium were sub cultivated on MacConkey plates
agar, Blood agar plates, nutrient agar, Salmonella Shigella
agar, Mannitol salt agar and Thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-
sucrose agar (TSBS agar) and Eosin Methylene Blue agar
(EMB agar), all plates were incubated in aerobic and
anaerobic condition at 37 °C for 24 h. Microscopic
examination such as motility test, morphology, and staining
reactions [12] were determined under the compound light
microscope. Biochemical tests included Indole test Methyl
red (IMVIC) test, Voges-Proskaur test and Citrate utilization
test, Triple sugar iron test (TSI) and oxidase test were
demonstrated.
RESULTS and DISCUSSION
Bacteriological analysis
In current study, many members of enterobactercease such
as Escherichia coli (24.5%), Enterbacter aerogenes
(10.11%), Salmonella spp (4.79%), Klebsiella pneumonia
(20.3%), Proteus mirbalis (11.45 %), Proteus vulgaris
(7.55%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (7.21% ),
Staphylococcus aureus (8.91%) and Staphylococcus
epidermids (5.18 %) .
Cultural Characteristics
The samples were inoculated on blood agar and
MacConkey’s agar, EMB agar, Nutrient agar, S.S agar,
MSA agar using standard techniques. Culture plates were
incubated at 37 oC overnight. Next day, colonies obtained
on the culture plates were further studied on the basis of
colonies morphology, and biochemical reactions [13], the
results were shown in Fig 1.
Fig 1. Morphological characteristecs of bacterial colonies on different culture
media. a, E.coli on EMB agar; b, K. pneumonia on MacConkey agar; c, P.
aeruginosa on nutrient agar (produced pyocyanin pigments); d, Proteus spp
on blood agar (swarming phenomenon); e, S. aureus on mannitol salt agar; f,
S. epidermidis on mannitol salt agar.
Biochemical tests
The results of biochemical tests for bacteria were
summarized in table 1. According to the results species of
enterobacteriaceae were isolated from the studied samples
that collected from the river at Al-Majed area, Samawah city
and Al -Khader city due to fecal pollution in those areas, as
well as to the sewages and lack the good treatment of
waste before split the water into the river. In addition Al-
Majed area is an agriculture area known as the place of
store the wastes of human and animals, as well as the
dead animals in the river that consider main reason of
water pollution by E. coli. These results were agreed with
Ahmed 2009 [14] who isolated the bacteria and identified
Abed.HH et al. (2016).
World J Exp Biosci. Vol. 4, No. 1: 66-69.
68
Table 1. Biochemical tests results of different bacteria isolated from different places of Euphrates River.
pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli, E. aerogenes, Shigella
sp, Salmonella sp, Klebsiella sp, Pseudomonus sp,
Aeromonus sp. and Vibrio cholera from samples of drinking
water which supplied to the citizens in five different sectors
in Salah AL-Deen province: Samara, AL-Dour, AL-Alam,
Alouja, and Hammad Shihab village. Our results were
agreed with Mohammed 2010 [15] who studied Kufa river
pollution with intestinal bacteria during the summer months
and he was found the Kufa river was highly contaminated
with enteric E. coli.
We were isolated S. aureus and S. epidermids and this
finding agrees with Ghaida et al, 2014 [16] who diagnosed
four types of bacteria which included E. coli, P. aeruginosa,
S. aureus and S. saprophyticus in water of Shatt Al-Arab
and Quar AL-Omia in Basrah city. The present study were
disagreed with Tahseen et al, 2009 [17] who studied about
the pollution of environment in Euphrates River and
involving Habbanyah and Therthar lakes and he was found
Enterobacter spp represented the highest percentage
(24%) followed by K. Pneumoniae (17.6 %), Pseudomonas
spp (16.2%), Citrobacter (12.5%), E. coli (12.1%), P.
mirabilis (5.5 %), Salmonella spp (5%), Shigella spp (3.7%),
Flavimonas Oryzihabitas (2.8%). The present study
concluded that the Euphrates River at the Samawah area is
highly contaminated with bacteria.
Chemical analysis
Chemical analysis of elements by atomic absorption
collected from three places in Euphrates Rivers was show
in table 2.
Table 2. Concentrations of elements in ppm collected from three places in Samawah, Iraq. The standard concentration of elements according to world health
organization (WHO) was included. N, 10 and p < 0.05.
Concentration of elements in ppm at three places
Standard
concentration
(WHO) in ppm
Type of element
Al- khader city
Samawah city
Al-Majed area
0.0203 ±0.0031
0.0108 ± 0.0035
0.0102 ±0.0032
0.01
Lead (Pb)
0.0839 ± 0.0021
0.0798 ±0.0029
0.0781 ±0.0016
1.0
Copper (Cu )
0.1277 ±0.0073
0.1212 ± 0.0061
0.1125 ± 0.0052
0.3
Iron (Fe)
0.0175 ± 0.0019
0.0150 ± 0.001
0.0130 ± 0.0013
0.003
Cadmium (Cd)
0.0118 ± 0.0001
0.0109 ± 0.0003
0.0024 ± 0.0001
3.00
Zinc (Zn)
The results in table 2 showed there is no significant change
in concentration of lead in Euphrates at AL-Majed area and
Samawah city. However, at AL-Khader city there is change
in concentration of lead may be due to increased rate of
non-treatment industrial waste which discharged to River
[18]. In case of concentrations of Copper there is no
significant change at AL-Majed area and Samawah city but
there is increase at AL-Khader city that due to the flow of
the dredged materials from upper regions of the river,
dilution and increase of water flow, direct drainage from
farmlands, sewage disposal plants [19]. There is slight
increase in concentration of iron between three places,
same thing was found in case of Cadmium, slight increase
in concentration of Cd in three sites due to the
anthropogenic activities such as agricultural runoff,
urbanization and industrialization. The anthropogenic
sources play a significant role in increasing the concentr-
ation of Cd and Cu in the Euphrates River. These sources
include discharging of irrigation water, rich in phosphate
fertilizers, to the river and discharging untreated municipal
heavy water to the river without treatment from highly
populated cities [20]. Zinc elements increased in Samawah
city compared to AL-Majed area due to sewage water split
in rive that cross the Samawah city [21]. The concentrat-
ion of Zn increased in AL-Khader city due to the increase of
many chemical pollutants like trace elements and PAHs
(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) agrochemicals
Abundance that throw into the river [22].
From current study it can be concluded that found the
biological pollution in Euphrates River in Samawah city due
to the pollution in al-Majed area, high percentage of
bacteria in Al-Majed area. E. coli is the highest bacteria
present in the river water due to an organic pollution,
increase in concentrations of heavy metals in AL-Khader
city specifically in copper and lead concentrations in
Samawah city .
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
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Author affiliation
1. Department of Physiology and chemistry,
Veterinary Medicine College, Muthanna
University, Samawah, Iraq.
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World J Exp Biosci. Vol. 4, No. 1: 66-69.
Abed.HH et al. (2016).
Authors contact information
1. Hayder H.Abed, M.Sc Biochemistry science
Veterinary medicine college- Muthanna University,
Samawah, Iraq.Hayderhussein86@yahoo.com.
2. Zainab Y. Kadhim, M.Sc organic chemistry science
Veterinary medicine college- Muthanna University,
Samawah, Iraq.Zainabchem02@gmail.com
3. Saif M.Abed, M.Sc microbiology science, Samawah,
Iraq.
4. Zahrah S. Mahdi, B.Sc biology science, Samawah,
Iraq.
