Physicochemical Quality Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Wukari Town, Nigeria

Abstract

In this study, an assessment of drinking water sources in Wukari town, Nigeria was carried out using standard methods. Thirty (30) water samples collected from three sources (Borehole, hand dug wells and town supply) were evaluated for physicochemical properties. Among the parameters investigated, pH was found to range from 6.41 – 8.41, conductivity was in the range 80 – 600 µS/cm, turbidity ranged between 0.15 – 7 NTU, total dissolved solids (TDS) ranged from 7.54 – 154.6 mg/L and total hardness was in the range of 21 – 112 mg/L. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) ranged between 50 – 110 mg/L and 3.12 – 14.47 mg/L. Chloride and sulphate contents ranged between 28 – 128 mg/L and 1.65 – 19.34 mg/L respectively. The levels obtained in this study were mostly within the WHO recommended limits with few exceptions which are; turbidity, dissolved oxygen and nitrates in some samples. Water quality Index (WQI) which was evaluated by means of the weighted arithmetic method revealed a score of 39.40 for borehole samples, 61.60 for town water supply samples and 88.04 for well water samples. These values indicate good water quality for the borehole source, poor water quality for town supply and very poor water quality for well water.