Assessment of Water Quality of Delta State, Agbarho Area ... - IRJIMS

International Research Journal of Interdisciplinary & Multidisciplinary Studies (IRJIMS) A Peer-Reviewed Monthly Research Journal ISSN: 2394-7969 (Online), ISSN: 2394-7950 (Print) Volume-II, Issue-IV, May 2016, Page No. 57-65 Published by: Scholar Publications, Karimganj, Assam, India, 788711 Website: http://www.irjims.com

Assessment of Water Quality of Delta State, Agbarho Area, Nigeria A.N. Asadu Department of Earth Sciences, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria Abstract The quality of groundwater depends on various concentrations of physico-chemical and microbiological constituents. The water supply for human consumption is often directly sourced from groundwater without treatment and the level of pollution has become a cause of major concern, hence the basis of which this research work was carried out .The samples were analysed for their physico-chemical parameters, ions, heavy metals and microbial contents which including coliform bacteria and BOD. Standard Laboratory analysis was performed on these samples for these parameters. The results of these tests, its significance and possible implication were discussed and compared with the World Health Organisation standard to know the degree to which the water is potable and save for drinking. Each of the analyzed physico–chemical parameters, the cations, anions, heavy metal fell below the permissible limit of the W.H.O standard of 1982. The samples are generally acidic with the pH ranging from 4 to 6, consequently should be treated to achieve a neutral pH for potable use. The microbiological content of the water which includes total coliform count and biological oxygen demand (BOD) showed that samples from Oseri, Uvwiamughe, Idirima, Urhoboghara and Ogubane are contaminated with coliform bacteria with their coliform count ranging from 5 to 25/100ml). Also samples from Erhidi, Uvwiamughe, Abavo and Oguname have high BOD content. Thus water from these wells must be disinfected before drinking. 1. Introduction: Water is one of the most essential needs of human beings and is the most abundant natural resources on the surface of the earth (Oyinloye and Jegede, 2004). It is the most essential basic necessity of life. However, pure water needed for human consumption does not always occur in nature, due to the presence of dissolved or suspended impurities in most natural water bodies (Goldface, 1999). The availability of good quality water is an indispensable feature for preventing diseases and improving quality of life (Oluduru and Aderiye, 2007). The groundwater is the largest reservoir of drinkable water and due to natural filtration; it is less contaminated as compared to surface water (Aiyesanmi et al., 2004). Water in its original sources can be contaminated by domestic, industrial or agricultural waste. When the contamination is sufficient to render the water unacceptable for its best usage, it is said to be polluted. The quality of surface and subsurface water can be determined through analysis and comparison with the standard set-up by agencies for water of quality standard e.g. World Health Organization. The sources of groundwater pollution include open dumpsites, poorly constructed or maintained landfill, latrines and other waste sites. Each of these can contain a range of pathogens and toxins, including heavy metals that can migrate downward and contaminate aquifers. Industrial pollution of groundwater can come from Volume-II, Issue-IV

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Assessment of Water Quality of Delta State, Agbarho Area, Nigeria

A.N. Asadu

dumping of waste water or waste from mining activities and from leakage or spillage from other industrial processes. Mining primarily affects groundwater from leaching of mine tailing piles Agricultural pollution of groundwater comes primarily from overuse of pesticides and fertilizers that can later seeps into groundwater sources. The composition of water differs due to the exchange of ions between the constituents of the water and the earth materials which contain the water. Ions such as hydrogen (H+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca+), magnesium (Mg2+), bicarbonates (HCO3-), carbonates (CO32-), chlorine (CL-) and Sulfate (SO42-) are the predominant ions that make up the composition of water. There are other ions, but with lesser concentrations. These ions include oxygen (O2), methane (CH4), arsenic (As), boron (B), lead (Pb), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Aim of the Research work: The objective of this work is to determine the quality of groundwater in Agbarho, Delta state. To this effect, a total number of ten water samples were collected from different hand-dug wells. 1. Methodology: Sample Collection and Analysis: A non-systematic sub-surface water samples were obtained from ten hand dug wells from different locations of Agbarho in Delta state. These were subjected to standard methods of laboratory analysis to ascertain the pH, EC, TDS, Salinity, TSS, Turbidity, Chloride, Sulphate, Ammonia, Nitrate, Calcium, Sodium, Manganese, Potassium, Copper, Lead, Zinc Chrominm, Iron, coliform count and biological oxygen demand (BOD). The storage and transport of the samples are vital elements of the sampling protocol (U.S. EPA, 1987).Transport was planned so as not to exceed holding time before laboratory analysis. The samples were stored in a refrigerator before analysis and afterwards treated with different reagents and analytical equipment. The methods adopted for the examination of these parameters are based on that of APHA, (1989). The sample locations are shown in table 1. Location and Accessibility of the Study Area: The study area, Agbarho, is a town in the Ugheli North local government area of Delta state, Nigeria. It is located near the city of Warri. It lies within latitude 50 351 0011N and longitude 50 521 0011E (figure 1). The area derives its water from the Sombreiro Warri Deltic Plain which overlies the coastal plain sand of the highly prolific Agbada formation. The area has a shallow water table which is encountered at a minimum depth of 20 meters. The area is considerably recharged by rainfall. The area is accessible by major road and foot path. Table 1: Type and name of sample areas Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Volume-II, Issue-IV

Sample Code URH ST AKP ST ERH ST AHI ST OSE ST ABA ST OGUN ST 1DI ST OGUB ST UVWI ST

Sample Location URHOBOGHARA STREET AKPIROROH STREET ERHIDI STREET AHIRIMA STREET OSERI STREET ABAVO STREET OGUNAME STREET IDIRIMA STREET OGUBAME STREET UVWIAMUGBE STREET May 2016

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A.N. Asadu

5035’35”N 5051‟51”E

O R H E R H E R O A D

STUDY AREA

ABAVO

OGUNAME

Agbarho Pry Sch.

EFFURUN UGELLI ROAD

5035‟00”N 0

5 51’00”E

Fig-1: Map of Agarho and environs showing sample locations 2. Results and Discussion: The results of the physical and chemical analysis, heavy metals ions and microbiological content of the various water samples are shown in the tables below. Table 2 shows the physiochemical parameters of the water samples. Table 3 shows the heavy metals contents of the analyzed water sample. Table 4 shows the cations and anions contents and table 5 shows the Microbiological parameters of the water samples Table-2: Physiochemical characteristics of water Sl.No. Sample Code 1 URH ST 2 AKP ST ERH ST 4 AHI ST 5 OSE ST Volume-II, Issue-IV

pH (mg/L) 6.0 5.6 6.0 4.0 5.2

EC µS/cm 93 209 704 182 391

TDS SALANITY TSS TURBIDITY (mg/L) (ppt) (mg/L) (NTU) 46 0.00 0.00 0.00 105 0.00 0.00 0.00 352 0.21 0.00 0.00 91 0.00 0.00 0.00 196 0.08 0.00 0.00 May 2016

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6 7 8 9 10

ABA ST OGUN ST 1DI ST OGUB ST UVWI ST W.H.O. Standard

5.0 5.3 4.0 4.0 4.3 6.5-8.5

214 524 284 172 442 1400

107 262 141 86 221 500

A.N. Asadu

0.00 0.13 0.03 0.00 0.10 600

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 >3.0

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25

Table-3: Heavy metals results Sl.No. SAMPLE CODE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

URH ST AKP ST ERH ST AHI ST OSE ST ABA ST OGUN ST 1DI ST OGUB ST UVWI ST W.H.O. STANDARD

Cu (mg/L)