ASSESSMENT OF BOREHOLES WATER QUALITY FOR DOMESTIC USE IN THREE SELECTED WARDS IN GAJIRAM, NGANZAI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BORNO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

In the current study, the quality of water used for domestic purposes from three boreholes in Gajiram (Ajari, Kumburi and Gajiram 2 Primary School boreholes), Nganzai local government area of Borno state, Nigeria, was assessed for a period of six months (January, February, March, June, July and August 2019) using standard methods of sampling and analysis. Temperature, pH, Turbidity, Conductivity, Sulphate (SO42-), Phosphate (PO43-), Nitrate (NO3-), Chloride (Cl-
), Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+ and some heavy metals (As, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Co) were determined. The results showed that the highest and lowest mean of pH, turbidity (NTU), conductivity (μ/CM) and temperature (°C) are 6.90±0.03 and 5.74±1.09; 41.36±20.37 and 0.40±0.17; 63.42±12.38 and 7.72±4.86; 42.77±0.46 and 40.2±0.00 respectively. For anions, sulphate has the highest value (26.66±1.276 mg/l) while phosphate was not detected in Ajari. The highest and lowest mean of cations were 26.57 + 8.804 mg/l (sodium) and 0.02+0.01(magnesium) respectively. For heavy metals, Iron has the highest value (0.470±0.041mg/l) in Ajari while some heavy metals were not detected in some locations. The results
obtained from the study showed that temperature and turbidity are above the permissible limit of WHO and NESREA while pH, Electrical Conductivity, heavy metals (with the exception of manganese during the dry season) and major anions and cations were found below the permissible limit of drinking water standard by WHO and NESREA. Hence the study shows that the quality of groundwater in the study area were not statistical significant difference
between seasons.