Bacterial indicators reveal water quality status of Rangkui River, Bangka Island, Indonesia

Rangkui River flows across Pangkal Pinang City, the capital of Bangka Belitung Province. Land uses vary and can inevitably be pollution hot-spots for this river. This study aimed to investigate the current status of Rangkui River based on bacterial indicators in association with other water quality parameters. The sample collection was completed in March 2017 within 6 stations. Water quality parameters observed were temperature, TSS, turbidity, pH, DO, salinity, BOD, COD, Nitrate and Phosphate. The results of faecal coliform observation indicated that the stations closer to upstream (station 1, 2, 3) showed lower faecal coliform concentration (530-940 MPN/100 ml) as compared to those closer to downstream (station 4, 5, 6) which had the amount of ∼11,000 MPN/100 ml. Phylogenetic study emphasized that isolates of interest were more similar to Escherichia group. The water from Rangkui River could be classified from Class I to Class IV according to Indonesia Government Regulation No.82/2001. PCA revealed Station 3 and 6 obviously separated from other stations so that more concerns should be given to improving water quality in these areas. (paper)