The quality of the Yamoussoukro lakes and the risks of bacteriological contamination of the surrounding vegetables were assessed by studying thermotolerant coliforms and Escherichia coli, indicators of pollution. Sampling was carried out on five (5) lakes during two dry seasons and two rainy seasons of the years 2015 to 2016 and 2016 to 2017. The bacteriological results revealed very high bacterial loads compared to current standards. Escherichia coli constituted more than 73% of the thermotolerant coliforms in samples. In Lake A, located upstream of the lake system, pollution was the lowest followed by Lake B. Lakes D and E downstream of the lake system had the highest bacterial loads. With respect to climatic seasons, the loads in the water were highest during the wet seasons (1015.8 CFU/100ml), while on vegetables the loads were highest during the dry seasons (738.8 CFU/100g). The risk of bacterial transmission between lake waters and surrounding vegetables is not negligible.

Keywords: Escherichia coli, Lake Waters, Sanitary quality, Thermotolerant coliforms, Vegetable crops