Assessment of water quality at selected Nigerian mining site

Abstract

The Physicochemical characteristics of water samples from three streams (NS, WS and AS) in the mining area of Eggon Hills, Nasarawa State, Nigeria were analysed. The values obtained were compared with World Health Organisation (WHO) permissible standards in drinking water. The values obtained for pH, conductivity, chloride, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium and hardness were within the limits specified by the WHO. From the results, Water bodies coded as WS had the highest pH, while NS had the least. Bicarbonate concentrations in mgL-1CaCO3 were found to be 2.50 for NS which are the highest, 1.94 for WS and 1.08 for as the least. Bicarbonate is the major contributor to alkalinity. The low level of hardness is evident of the fact that calcium and magnesium concentrations in the samples were low.

Keywords: Hardness, water quality, mining site, alkalinity, Nigeria