Physicochemical Properties Evaluation of Well and Borehole Water-Samples from Elebu District, Iddo LGA, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Throughout ages, water has proven to be an indispensable liquid for life,
food production, agriculture, domestic and industrial uses. Access to
potable water in Nigeria poses a challenge due to infrastructural deficit.
Well and boreholes remain major sources of potable water and in event
of poor practices, the risk of contamination is imminent. Hence,
continuous evaluation of water quality designated for specific purposes
remains a necessity and is thus the underpinning of this study. A total of
eleven (11) sites namely: Eleta, Yidi, Akuru, Adedayo, Kuyoro, Elebu
market, Ajokankan, Health centre, Police station, Lawyer Oke, Olanlege
streets, respectively were randomly selected from Elebu district. Ten
samples each from well and borehole were collected and analyzed for
physicochemical properties: pH, Conductivity (C); Total Dissolved
Solids (TDS), Alkalinity, Salinity, hydrogen ion concentration (H+), (pH)
were determined in the laboratory using standard techniques. Salinity TDS and conductivity between January to March, 2024. Results revealed
that pH of well and borehole water varied between 6.36±0.02 to
7.21±0.02 and 6.40± 0.01 to 7.10± 0.02 respectively and fell within
WHO recommended limits of 6.4 to 8.5. Furthermore, the total
hardness of well and borehole water ranged between 4.92±0.02 mg/L
to 15.40± 0.10 mg/L and 7.84± 0.02 mg/L to 12.43 to 0.02 mg/L
respectively and fell within World Health Organization (WHO)
recommended limits of 0.0 to 180.0 mg/L. Iron (Fe) content of well and
borehole water ranged between 1.21±0.21 mg/L to 3.17± 0.03 mg/L
and 1.91± 0.03 mg/L to 3.84± 0.04 mg/L respectively which far exceeds
WHO standards of 0.3 mg/L to 1.0 mg/L. Results from this study indicate
that water from the wells and borehole in Elebu district of Ibadan is high
in iron content load, hence there is need for water treatment procedure
to engender safe water supply to the district.