Amoo, A.O., Adeleye, A.O., Bate, G.B.,  Sadiq, I.S., Amoo, F.K., Raji, M., Isiaq, S.M. and Abubakar, Y.B

Keywords: Hand-dug well, total coliform counts, water quality, drinking water, Gaya.

Abstract

Access to potable water is a huge challenge to the people of Gaya town who solely depend on hand-dug wells as their main source of drinking water. This study was conducted to examine the quality of water manually drawn from existing hand-dug wells in Gaya, North-western Nigeria. Systematic random sampling was adopted in collecting water samples from four (4) hand-dug wells that were purposively selected based on population of users and rate of usage. Water samples collected were subsequently analysed for physicochemical and bacteriological assays using standard methods. Results of physicochemical parameters indicated that pH ranged from 6.43 to 7.12; temperature (29.60 C to 31.70 C); electrical conductivity (207µS/cm to 657 µS/cm); turbidity (0NTU to 4.85NTU); Calcium (0.23mg/L to 0.87mg/L); Chloride (5.9 mg/L to 17.5mg/L) and Magnesium (0.10 mg/L to 0.36 mg/L) respectively. All the measured physicochemical parameters were within permissible standards set by water regulating bodies. However, total coliform and E. coli counts ranging from 0 to 34 cfu/100ml and 0.24 to 0.32 x 102 cfu/100mL were recorded respectively. The results obtained in this study have clearly indicated that the water drawn from the hand-dug wells is not free from pollution and therefore not fit for drinking. It is therefore recommended that hand-dug well water in this locality should be subjected to sanitary treatment before drinking with a view to averting eminent public health crisis.