The significance of good quality water to health has long been realized hence the development of water resources is a
significant part of integrated community development policy. In this paper the analysis of bacteriological quality of shallow
well water was undertaken. This is because shallow well is fast gaining prominence as an alternative source of potable
water supply in Abeokuta. To this end, the city of Abeokuta was divided into four zones namely indigenous areas (I),
Peri-urban areas (P), modern low density areas (MLD) and modern high density areas (MHD) and a total of 40 shallow
wells over the entire study area were investigated. The pH, temperature and electrical conductivity were taken on the field
to avoid interference by change of environment while the bacteriological analysis was carried out within 24 hours of sampling.
The result of the bacteria count shows a minimum value of 20 col/100 ml at MHD-1 and a maximum value of 800
col/100 ml at I-8. Fifteen (15) of the wells also show presence of multiple bacteria. From the study, it was found that shallow
well water in Abeokuta are highly contaminated with faecal bacteria and requires disinfection before use since all the
wells test positive to the presence of faecal bacteria. [Life Science Journal. 2008; 5(1): 68 – 72] (ISSN: 1097 – 8135)