Effect of population and level of industrialization on underground water quality of Abia state, Nigeria - physico-chemical properties

Abstract

Water is one of the most vital natural resources necessary for the existence of life. In most urban cities in
various countries such as Nigeria, it is the duty of the
government to provide portable water. Most often this
responsibility is not adequately discharged causing the
inhabitants of those cities to look elsewhere to meet their
water needs. The alternative may be unwholesome. In
Abia State of Nigeria, the inability of the government to
provide sufficient portable water has led private individuals to sink boreholes. Water from these boreholes is
pumped out ‘raw’ and sold to the public without any form
of treatment and is used for drinking and other household
activities. As a result of the lucrative nature of this
business, a lot of boreholes have sprung up in the major
cities of Abia State. Groundwater, if abstracted from an
adequately protected source has undoubtedly bacteriological and physical qualities comparable to those of treat-
*Corresponding author. E-mail: tonyanoh@yahoo.com.
ed water (Okoye and Adeleke, 1991). The slow percolation and horizontal flow through the ground is superb
filtration, removing pathogens including viruses and
bacteria (Chanlett, 1979; Pelig-Ba, 1996). The quality
limitations result from mineralization by the dissolved
carbon dioxide as the water passes over rock deposits
and also from pollutants leached down from the earth
surface. These processes could raise the concentrations
of cations such as Ca2+, Mg2+, K+
and anions like Cland
PO4
3-
above acceptable levels.