A chemical and Bacteriological Assessment of Ground Water Along Parts of Minna - Lambata Road, North Central Nigeria

Abstract

The geochemical and bacteriological assessment of ground water along parts of Minna - Suleja road was carried out. Water samples were collected (from boreholes and hand dug wells) from eight locations and transported to the laboratory within 24 hours. The physical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, temperature, total hardness, total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity and colour were measured. The major ions analyzed include (Ca2+, Mg+, Fe2+, Na+, CI, SO4-2, HCO3-2, CO3-2, and NO3-2) while total count and E.coliform constituted the microbial aspect of the study. Results obtained show that all the parameters are below the recommended permissible value by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ). The bacteriological analysis shows the values higher than the permissible recommended value of WHO 1993, 1984 and NSDWQ (1972) except for locations 4 and 8 which recorded zero E.coli.