Assessment of the physico-chemical properties of borehole water in gwagwalada area council abuja, nigeria

Abstract

The assumption that borehole water is safe for drinking purpose was verified by empirical study of the physico-chemical properties of borehole water in Gwagwalada Area Council Abuja, Nigeria. The physico-chemical properties of borehole water were anaysed and compared with regulatory standards for drinking purpose. Fifteen samples were collected from five purposely selected wards (Dobi, Ibwa, Tungan-Maje, Zuba and Ikwa) in the study area. The selections of the wards were based on heavy reliance on borehole water for drinking. Three borehole water samples were spatially collected from each of the five selected wards. The water samples were stored in 75cl plastic bottles pre-cleaned with distilled water and rinsed with the sample water. Each sample was labeled with the name of the ward and transported to the laboratory for analysis. Data were analyzed using range and mean. Result showed that water sample were slight acidic (6.83) to slight alkalinity (7.86) EC was low and ranged from 132-184µS/cm³, TDS 1.4-3.1Mg/l, turbidity 0.36-71NTU, Total hardness 6.12-19.72Mg/l, Chloride (Cl-)1.03-16.86Mg/l, Fe 0.08-0.72Mg/l, Zn 0.021-0.051Mg/l, Cr 0.016-0.086Mg/l, Cd 0.001-0.009Mg/l and Mn from 0.002-0.009Mg/l. Some sample fell short of regulatory standards in terms of EC and FE. However, most water samples are safe for drinking purpose. Treatment of sources that fell short of standard before drinking was recommended.