AN ASSESSMENT OF PHYSIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF UNDERGROUND DRINKING WATER IN KAFANCHAN, KADUNA STATE

Dogo Bitrus Ajeye (PhD)*, Dihiru Muhammad Kabiru (PhD) &Halimat Ogah

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the physiochemical properties of underground drinking water in Kafanchan township, Kaduna State. The study is aimed at determining the physiochemical and biological parameters of drinking water from underground sources – hand dug wells and boreholes in Kafanchan. The analytical research design was adopted for the study. The target population for the study includes residents of all the five wards who have either hand dug well or borehole in their houses as the main source of drinking water in the study area. A total of 15 water samples were taken, 10 from hand dug wells and 05 from boreholes. These samples were analyzed using appropriate procedures. The Physiochemical properties tested include P^H, Temperature, Turbidity, TDS, Electrical Conductivity, Color, Nitrates, Fluoride, Chloride, Alkalinity, Phosphate, Sulphate and Hardness. The purposive random sampling was employed to collect samples from each of the five wards. Results obtained were subjected to mean,   standard deviation, standard error of means and one sample t-test. Analysis of variance – ANOVA was determined and p< 0.05 was considered to indicate significance. Results obtained from analysis showed that Turbidity values of (10) and Fluoride values of (1.5) were found to exceed the maximum permissible limit recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and NSDWQ. Also, results showed that the highest values of mean for Nitrates (8.97mg/l) were recorded in Maigizoh ward while the lowest values of mean for same (3.53mg/l) recorded in Kafanchan B ward which is significant at p< 0 .05 alpha levels but are below the permissible limits. The total dissolved solids also showed significant difference at p< 0.05 alpha level with highest values of 272.67mg/l recorded in Kaninkon ward, while lowest the values of 98.67mg/l recorded in Kafanchan A ward but the overall result was below the permissible limit of WHO and NSDWQ. The study concluded that Kafanchan underground sources of drinking water are averagely safe except for the high turbidity which is an indication of the presence of microbial organisms commonly found in hand dug wells. The study recommended that further investigations should be made on other sources of domestic drinking water especially from pipe borne and streams/surface flowing water to determine their level of contaminations which may be the major source of water borne diseases in the study area.

Keywords: Underground water, Physiochemical properties, Permissible limits, Significance, WHO, NSDWQ.