Quality of Drinking Water in Selected Communities of Kogi State, Nigeria

Journal of Water and Land use Management ISSN: 0973-9300, Volume 14, Issue 1 Quality of drinking water in selected communities of Kogi state, Nigeria Kamoli Makanjuola Kazeem1, Muyiwa Babatimehin and Abraham Onugba Abstract The study was done using standard procedures, their physico-chemical properties and trace metals were determined and compared with the acceptable limits for human consumption as set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Standard Or- ganisation of Nigeria (SON) and other regulatory bodies. The result revealed that electrical conductivity (EC) is high in Ohucheba community’s mechanical water pump in Adavi Local Government Area (LGA), while turbidity level was observed to be high in Ofu river of the Ugwolawo community and Ogberuku stream of Mangogo community. Magnesium (Mg) was discovered to be generally high in the drinking water sources in the area except in Maboro river of Olamoboro community with a relatively high concentration than the permissible level. Iron concentration is higher than the amount allowed for human consumption in the Inachalo stream of Yogbo community of Igalamela LGA, Maboro river, Kogi state water board Lokoja, and Kotokarfe old mosque’s well. Lead and Nickel were similarly observed to be high in Ofu river in Ugwolawo community, Maboro river of Olamaboro community, Ogberuku stream, Mechanical water pump of Ohucheba community, and Kotokarfe old mosque’s Well in Kotokarfe. Considering the role of these waters in the lives of residents of these communities, there is therefore an urgent need for Government of Kogi State, Nigeria to provide alternative sources of water for the residents population. Key words: water quality, communities, physicochemical properties, trace elements, permitted level, acceptable limit. Kamoli Makanjuola Kazeem* () Muyiwa Babatimehin** Abraham Onugba*** *Department of Geography, Yobe State University, PMB 1144, Damaturu, Nigeria. **Social, Governance Policy Research Group Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria ***Salem University, Lokoja, Nigeria [email protected] Journal of Water and Land use Management ISSN: 0973-9300, Volume 14, Issue 1 Introduction Access to good quality water and proper sanitary conditions are essential element in the battle to eradicate poverty and the struggle for a better environment. Human sur- vival and the quality of life have always been and will always be inextricably tied to the availability of fresh water. Good drinking water supply, adequate in quantity and safe in quality, is essential to the existence and quality of life of any settlement and to protect public health. The development, management and control of available water resources are of crucial socio-economic importance because water supplies affect health, agriculture, productivity and general socio-economic life of the people. The main sources of water supply in Kogi State, Nigeria are surface and groundwater systems. Rain water provides seasonal supply directly and recharges the other sources including streams, spring, ponds/lakes and groundwater. The groundwater systems, generally shallow in the crystalline basement rock areas of Kogi West and Kogi Central are exploited by shallow boreholes and hand dug wells below 60m depth in the average; these shallow systems are susceptible to surface anthropogenic pollution. On the other hand, in Kogi East, the groundwater systems are very deep being at 80- 250m depth or more; exploitation is often very expensive drilling 80m -250 m boreholes. Hand dug wells are not successful options in Kogi East.. There have been sev- eral studies on quality of water from one source by different workers (Aderibigbe, Awoyemi and osagbemi, 2008; Ibrahim and Ajibade, 2012; Efiukwa and Eboatu, 2013; Esemikose and Akoji, 2014). However, generally, there has been no systematic study to characterize the various water sources consumed by the population. It has been observed that, among the 152 million who reside in Nigeria, including Kogi State, less than 30 percent have access to adequate quality drinking water (Kreb, 2010). There is therefore the need for a systematic study of the quality of drinking water resources for the population in the area. The present study is therefore, an assessment to provide Baseline data and infor- mation that could be necessary for optimal development and management of water resources in the area. The objective is to determining their chemical properties and com- paring the results obtained with acceptable limits set by local and international regulatory bodies. The study area lies within latitude 60 301; 80 451 and longitude 50 300; 70 351. The sites selected for this study are all within Kogi State. The state is divided into three senatorial districts comprising of Kogi east, Kogi Central and Kogi west. This division was maintained for the research. Samples were collected from Igalamela, Ofu, Ankpa, Olamaboro Adavi, Ogorimagongo, Lokoja, Kogi, Mopamuro, Kabba Bunu and Ijumu local government areas respectively to cover the three senatorial districts. Journal of Water and Land use Management ISSN: 0973-9300, Volume 14, Issue 1 Materials and Methods Water samples were collected from water sources daily harnessed for domestic uses (drinking, cooking and washing) in 11 communities. The sources include rivers and streams, boreholes (motorized and hand-pump equipped) and dug-wells. The sites selected for sampling is summarized in the table 1below. Water samples were collected in thoroughly washed and rinsed clean 1 litre plastic bottles. Figure 1. Map of the Study Area. Journal of Water and Land use Management ISSN: 0973-9300, Volume 14, Issue 1 Table 1 Distribution of Sources of Drinking Water by Communities Local Government Council Names of Communities Source of Drinking Water Igalamela Yogbo Inachalo stream Ofu Ugwolawo Ofu river Ankpa Ankpa Maboro river Olamaboro Olamaboro Ala stream Adavi Ohucheba Mechanical water pump Ogorimagongo Magongo Ogberuku stream Mopamuro Ileteju Mopa muro central bore hole Kabba bunu Iyamule Kogi State Water Board Kabba Ijumu Iyara LGA Bore hole water Lokoja Lokoja KSWB Lokoja Kogi Kotonkarfe Kotonkarfe old mosque well Water samples were collected directly from the various sources as indicated in Ta- ble1 with clean and well-dried 1 liter plastic bottles. The method used for analyses however depended on the water source. In the case of streams and rivers the samples were taken at various points and depths. Samples were taken from the bank, top/surface, sub-surface, inner depth and mixed appropriately for homogeneity into two (2) sample bottles for both anion and cation analyses. The sampling points include Dug well, Borehole, River (stream) water, and treated water. In case of Dug well, clean sampler was introduced into the well with the help of a rope for the collection of the well water. However, prior to sampling, the bottles were rinsed thoroughly with the water of the source from which the sample was to be collected and the rinsed water was discarded away from the area being sampled. The samples were then brought to the laboratory analysis. For boreholes, water samples were collected after pumping for sufficient time to flush out the casing or pipes with fresh water. However, in the case of Rivers, water samples were collected at depths varying from 3-5 meters with the help of a sampler which consisted of a plastic bottle and a cord tied to a lid. The whole assembly was lowered into water to the desired depths and the cord of the lid was pulled and released only when displaced air bubble ceased to come to the surface. The whole assembly was withdrawn and the water was then transferred into pre-cleaned polythene bottles. For treated tap water, water samples were collected from the tap after releasing the water for a few minutes. The bot- Journal of Water and Land use Management ISSN: 0973-9300, Volume 14, Issue 1 tles were filled leaving no air space, and then the bottle was sealed to prevent any leakage. Each container was clearly marked with the name and address of the sampling station, sample description and date of sampling. At each point, two samples were taken for hydro-chemical (cation and anion) analyses. Samples from hand dug wells were collected by lowering plastic container into the wells to reach water. Care was taken to ensure that the water from the boreholes was left to run continuously from the tap before collection. All samples were properly sealed and labelled and tak- ing to the laboratory for analysis. Standard procedures were followed in sample collection, preservation and analyses. For cation analysis, the samples were acidified by adding concentrated nitric acid. This was to prevent precipitation of the metal ions or adsorption on the surface of the container. The pH of the samples was reduced to < 2 by adding concentrated nitric acid. This was to prevent precipitation of the metal ions or adsorption on the surface of the container. The method used for the determination of physico-chemical parameters was described by A.O.A.AA.C. (2005). Metals were determined in water and soil samples using Shimadzu Double-beam Digital / flame spectrophotometer model AA- 650 and a cornin-EEL model 410 flame photometer respectively in the central laboratory of the National Animal Production Research Institute, Ahmadu Bello University, and Zaria, Nigeria. Determination was done in triplicates and the mean result calculat- ed. Results and Discussion The physico-chemical parameters obtained from analysis of water samples from wells, streams, boreholes, river in selected communities of Kogi State, Nigeria are presented in Table 3. In all water samples, the pH values ranged between 6.8 - 8.0, with an average value of 7.4 ±0.35. The pH values are all within the permissible limits of 6.5-8.5 set for drinking water (SON, 2007; WHO, 2008; EPA; 2012). However, on the average, the values of electrical conductivity (EC) are all within the acceptable limits except for Sample E with a value of 1.2dS/m (UNEP, 2007; EPA; 2012).

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