Groundwater quality monitoring of a popular Niger Delta university town in Nigeria

• Published in: Groundwater for sustainable development 2021-02, Vol.12, p.100503, Article 100503
• Main Authors: Owamah, H.I., Alfa, M.I., Oyebisi, S.O., Emenike, P.C., Otuaro, E.A., Gopikumar, S., Kumar, Smita S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Correlation; Groundwater; Health; Niger-Delta; Perception; Quality monitoring
• ISSN: 2352-801X; 2352-801X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gsd.2020.100503

This study provides a detailed scientific data on the quality of groundwater in Oleh. It aimed at helping to facilitate the planning of potable water supply scheme for the community. Water samples from boreholes (BHs) and hand-dug wells (HDWs) in the community were obtained for the determination of biological and physicochemical parameters, from December 10, 2016 to March 10, 2017 for dry season and May 01, 2017 to August 01, 2017 for wet season. Structured interviews were also organized for households for the estimation of degree of access to safe drinking water, quality perception and awareness of domestic treatment techniques. But for pH being lower in some locations, results arrived at reveal that the physicochemical parameters were within the World Health Organization (WHO) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) limits. Cd and Pb in the BHs and HDWs were generally, slightly higher than the maximum limits of the WHO and SON. Though total coliform (TC) bacteria and Escherichia coli were found in the samples, HDWs had higher values. The small elevated values of Pb and Cd could be linked to crude oil exploration and processing activities in the sub-region. While most of the HDW samples (>72%) were found to be in the category of “low risk (FC, >11-100 cfu/100 mL), result of the survey showed that over