Physicochemical and bacteriological evaluation of underground water in Enugu metropolis, south east Nigeria

Abstract

The physicochemical and bacteriological evaluation of underground waters in Enugu metropolis was carried out to determine whether such water are safe and portable for domestic and industrial utilizations. Ten such borehole waters were sampled across different areas of the town. Laboratory analyses of the water samples established that temperature, total hardness, chloride, sulphate, total alkalinity, nitrate, dissolved solids and calcium were below the maximum acceptable WHO standards. The range of concentrations of carbon dioxide (28.00-150.20 ppm), iron (2.20-8.40 ppm), manganese (2.20-200.00 ppm), ammonia (0.30-11.80 ppm), phosphate (7.4-85.40 ppm), bicarbonate (30.40-150.20 ppm) and pH (4.20 7.70) were well above WHO maximum acceptable limit for portable water. Bacterial isolates included Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, and Proteus species, which are known to be pathogens, causing serious injuries to human health and may result to deaths in some cases, especially among children. Public health implications were advocated to reduce the increasing cases water borne diseases in the area.

Keywords: contamination; pathogens; pollution; portability; public health

International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Vol. 2 (3) 2006: pp. 240-245