Ogbulie Jude Nnanna, Duru Chidi Nathaniel, Awujo Nkem Chinedu, Ogbulie Tochukwu Ekwutosi.
Physicochemical quality of municipal borehole water in Imo State, Nigeria.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;48(1):8-11.

Objective: To determine the physicochemical quality of borehole water which is directly bottled and packed for human consumption in Nigeria. Methods: Samples of water were collected from boreholes in Owerri municipal Council of Imo State of Nigeria between October 2001 and January 2002. The samples were analyzed for physicochemical quality using standard physicochemical methods. Results: Of 320 samples collected from 10 different sites, the pH ranged from 4.05-6.94, copper from 0.48-0.59mg/l and iron from 0.02-0.58mg/l indicates that copper and iron level is within acceptable Word Health Organization (WHO) standards, while pH is higher. The concentration of manganese ranged from 0.3-9.8mg/l, phosphate from, 0.97-2.69mg/l, sulphate from 0.0-2.0 mg/l, nitrate from 0.5-2.25mg/l and nitrite from 0.15-0.36mg/l showing that the concentrations of manganese and phosphate were higher than the WHO standards while sulphate was within range. The concentration of total solids, hardness, alkalinity, total suspended and dissolved solids was 7.4-97.8mg/l, 10-120mg/l, 3.02-120mg/l, 0-23mg/l and 4.4-83.2mg/l, respectively while the conductivity, temperature and turbidity values ranged from 8.7-165.9 ohms, 27-33.50C and 0-3.9 NTU, respectively. The hardness, total dissolved solids and other parameters are not of concern and no free and total chlorine was detected in all the samples. Conclusion: Most physiochemical parameters are within the WHO standards while those of magnesium and phosphate were above the limits recommended for human and animal consumption and might have deleterious effects on health.

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