Abstract
In the study, health risk assessment on heavy metals ingestion was presented through the groundwater drinking pathway for residents in an oil and gas producing area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The level of the ground water pollution was examined, the quality of the borehole and the well water was assessed and the quality of the ground water pathway for the resident in the oil and gas producing area was determined and compared with the national and international standards for the drinking water. This study adopted both the field and laboratory experimental analysis of physical and chemical parameters. Water samples were analyzed for Physico-chemical parameters following acceptable methods to determine the compliance, and the results were analyzed according to drinking water guidelines. Interestingly, the results show that the ground water contained high amounts of turbidity (21.5 NTU, 23.00 NTU and 19.0 NTU in the borehole water and well water), iron (5.3 mg/L in the ground water and 6.98 mg/L in the borehole water) and pHs of all water samples were acidic in the study area. These results show that ground waters including the borehole and the well waters of the study area had acquired reasonable levels of pollution. Whereas, other values were found to be lower or above and corresponding to the acceptable threshold limit values for the drinking water set by consensus standards. A high value of turbidity due to suspended minerals is the cause for milky-white colour. Hence, ground waters in the study area are mainly unsuitable for drinking (containing iron, pH and turbidity). This study clearly advises that some health deteriorating chemicals in the drinking water were at dangerous level and; therefore, the water quality could be a major health menace for residents of the oil and gas producing area of Rivers state. Furthermore, additional researches in medical test to ascertain the health of the people are recommended in this study. Comprehensive groundwater monitoring and adequate treatment should be implemented. The government should carry out clean-up exercise immediately because there is oil spill to prevent infiltration of oil into the groundwater. There is also a need for the continuous monitoring and auditing of water quality in the oil producing areas so as to protect the men and the environment.
Highlights
Health risk assessment on heavy metals ingestion was presented through the groundwater drinking pathway for residents in an oil and gas producing area of Rivers State, Nigeria
The results show that the ground water contained high amounts of turbidity (21.5 NTU, 23.00 NTU and 19.0 NTU in the borehole water and well water), iron (5.3 mg/L in the ground water and 6.98 mg/L in the borehole water) and pHs of all water samples were acidic in the study area
These results show that ground waters including the borehole and the well waters of the study area had acquired reasonable levels of pollution
Summary
Some of the recent water quality studies include: an assessment of trace elements in surface and ground water quality in the Ebocha-Obrikom oil and gas producing area of Rivers State, Nigeria by Raimi and Sabinus (2017) [1]; Morufu and Clinton, (2017) [2], water-related problems and health conditions in the oil producing communities in central senatorial district of Bayelsa State by Raimi et al (2017) [3], water quality on intermittent water supply by Erickson et al (2017) [4], major ion chemistry of the groundwater by Bikundia and Mohan (2014) [5], water quality due to temperature variation and water stagnation by Zlatanoviæ et al (2017) [6], the use of fluorescence spectroscopy for tap water quality assessment by Heibati et al (2017) [7], Hydrochemical evolution and quality of groundwater by Jassas and Merkel (2015) [8], and evaluation of hydrogeology and groundwater quality by Edet (2016) [9]. Water quality was studied in different areas of the world by Dhamodharan et al (2016) [10], Li et al (2016) [11], Nagaraju et al (2016) [12], Kumar et al (2017) [13], and Tiwari et al (2017) [14]. In most parts of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the major challenge of survival is the provision of good quality (potable) water because of environmental pollution and degradation [15]. Towns and villages in this region, valuable man-hours are spent on seeking and fetching water of doubtful quality to meet specialized needs [16] [17]
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