COMPARATIVE WATER-QUALITY ASSESMENT OF BOREHOLE, RESERVOIR, AND HAND DUG WELL IN TAYI ABBATIOR, MINNA

Abstract

The quality of groundwater in many urban cities is being compromised by contaminants that are mostly anthropogenic. This study is aimed at comparing the water quality of groundwater in Tayi abattoir for drinking purposes. Twelve physicochemical and biological parameters (TS, pH, DO, BOD, Temperature, E. Coli, NO3- PO4, Cl-, EC, Mn- and Pb) of water samples taken during the wet and dry seasons from Borehole (BH), Opened Reservoir (OR) and Hand dug well (HD) were assessed. All but four (Mn, Pb, Cl, and EC) of the assessed parameters were used to establish indices for the groundwater sources. The result of the analysis (pH [6.6, 6.46 and 7.05], TS [1080, 1394, and 1452 mg/L], EC [378, 292, 335 μs/cm], Cl [69, 41.3, and 57.92 mg/L], Nitrate [0.07, 0.11, and 0.12 mg/L], Phosphate [0.69, 0.7, 0.75 mg/L] Mn [0.11, 0.03, and 0.15 mg/L], and Pb [0.001, 0.00, and 0.001 mg/L] showed that while pH, EC, Cl, PO4, Mn, and Pb were within the established limits, TS and E. coli were above. The results of the water quality index showed that the BH (62.92), HD (49.31) and RV (45.34) water can be classified as medium, bad and bad respectively. The implication is that the three sources are not suitable as sources of drinking water until after treatment.