Investigation of water qualities of open wells located at fuel stations within Ilorin metropolitan communities, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated the quality of water samples collected from twenty-seven open wells located at nine selected fuel stations situated within three Ilorin metropolitan areas. Three stations each, in the three local government areas were randomly selected. Physiochemical parameters of samples and total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHC) were analysed for any possible petroleum product leaking from the station’s underground storage tank into the nearby wells, using standard methods for the analysis. Physiochemical values of the samples analysed for Ilorin South fuel Stations (SFS), Ilorin East fuel stations (EFS) and Ilorin West fuel stations (WFS) were pH, colour, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), total iron (TI), copper, manganese, nitrate, chloride, TPHC, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD).The best average pH was obtained for WFS at 7.01 and lowest TPHC. Data analysis showed that factor area and location accounted for 51.17% (BOD), 62.75% (COD) and 38.51% (TPHC) of open wells within Ilorin Metropolitan area.