Physicochemical Quality of Borehole Water Stored in Household Plastic Containers

Abstract

Good quality water is indispensable to human and animal existence. Storage facilities are commonly used to ensure sufficient water, predominantly where piped water supply operates occasionally. Therefore, water samples from five boreholes were analyzed before and during storage for three weeks in household plastic containers using standard physicochemical methods. There was an increase in pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, total solids, turbidity, nitrates, phosphates, sulfates, alkalinity, copper, and lead and a decrease in dissolved oxygen, chlorides, total hardness, total acidity, zinc, cadmium, iron, and chromium. In contrast, the total suspended solids remained unchanged during storage. The physicochemical parameters were within the World Health Organization Standard for drinking water quality except for the pH, total acidity, cadmium, and lead levels during storage. This study showed that water storage for three weeks in plastic household containers adversely affected the physicochemical quality of the water. Therefore, water must not be stored for an extended period in plastic containers to avoid deterioration in its quality.