Abstract:With a few to assessing the qualities of water sources in Wukari local government area (LGA), a study was conducted on ground water and rivers in two settlements at Wukari LGA. For this purpose, some heavy metals (cadmium, lead, arsenic, iron, copper, mercury and manganese) and physicochemical parameters (temperature, turbidity, suspended solids, total dissolved solids, conductivity, pH, nitrate, phosphate, chloride, alkalinity, hardness and chemical/biochemical oxygen demand) were determined in water samples collected from hand-dug wells, boreholes and rivers in Puje and Avyi during wet and dry seasons using standard analytical techniques. The results showed that all the seven metals determined were detected and present at trace levels in all the water samples ranging from 0.001 ppm (Hg) in well and borehole to 0.0768 ppm (Fe) in river, and 0.001 ppm (Hg) in borehole to 0.0763 ppm (Fe) in river for Puje and Avyi, respectively. However, all the metals were found to have contained concentrations below the permissible safe level. The results further revealed that the levels of physicochemical parameters in the water samples for both wet and dry seasons are within the required standard limits set by World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water. Nevertheless, source protection is recommended for the bodies of water for the benefit of Wukari people.

Boreholes and hand dug wells from Bantaji and Rafin-Kada settlements of Wukari L.G.A. were analyzed for fourteen physicochemical parameters and seven heavy metals collected within July, 2015 to March, 2016 using standard methods. The mean difference in concentration of dissolved oxygen between the wet and dry seasons in the Bantaji boreholes was statistically significant at p<0.05. In addition, the electrical conductivity, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate and dissolved oxygen concentration were also statistically significant in the Rafin-Kada Boreholes. For the well water samples, total dissolved solids (TDS), nitrate nitrogen and chlorides were also statistically significant between the wet and dry seasons of the Bantaji wells while in the Rafin-Kada wells, with only dissolved oxygen having mean concentration that was statistically significant at p<0.05. All the physicochemical parameters in the boreholes and hand dug wells fall within the Nigerian Standards for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) acceptable limits. The heavy metals, Pb and Mn had mean concentrations in the wet and dry seasons that were statistically significant in the Bantaji borehole, Bantaji well and Rafin-Kada borehole while Rafin-Kada borehole had statistically significant mean concentrations of Cd, As and Mn at p<0.05. All the heavy metals analyzed fall within the NSDWQ acceptable limits except Pb which had higher mean concentrations in the wet and dry seasons than the acceptable limits from Rafin-Kada wells (