Evaluation of microbiological quality of coastal water taken from several landing sites along the north Java coastal area

An evaluation was made of the microbiological quality of the coastal waters of North Java. Laboratory parameters employed were the total viable count (TVC) and certain commonly found pathogenic bacteria in tropical coastal waters (i.e. Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, V.parahaemolyticus and Salmonella) . The results showed that the total number of bacteria, expressed as TVC, of all samples varied between 2.4x10 super(2) and 1.5x10 super(6) . It was found that the water taken from the west part of the North Java coastal area seemed to contain a lower TVC compared to the central and eastern part. Higher counts of E.coli were also found in coastal water collected from the central and eastern areas. The results of pathogenic bacteria detection revealed that almost all of the samples were free from any pathogenic bacteria. Only 1 sample, taken from Pekalongan (central part of the North Java coastal area), was positive to V.parahaemolyticus and Salmonella .