Comparative Study on the Physicochemical and Bacteriological Quality of Some Drinking Water Sources in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract-Diseases caused by contaminated water consumption and poor hygiene are among the leading cause of death in children, the elderly and people with compromised immune system. The present study aims to assess the drinking water quality of some selected drinking water sources in the chosen study area using water quality index (WQI). Samples of drinking waters were collected from four different sources-river, sachet (packaged), borehole and well in Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria for physicochemical and bacteriological analyses using standard methods. With the exception of pH, river water had the highest content of all the physicochemical parameters examined. Some of the physicochemical parameters such as temperature and pH determined in this study were mostly within the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The bacteriological analyses revealed that the highest total viable counts of 1.54 (0.12) x 10 2 (cfu/ml) were obtained in the river sample while the least values of 0.03 (0.00) x 10 2 (cfu/ml) were obtained in the sachet water. Three bacterial isolates of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp and Aeromonas spp were isolated from well water while Pseudomonas spp and Proteus spp were isolated from borehole water. All other bacteria were isolated from the river. The study demonstrates that the safest drinking water source in Idu district, Jabi, Abuja is the sachet/packaged water while the least safe is the river water due to the presence of significant opportunistic pathogens. The results of this study are beneficial for water quality management and could be used for low-cost effective water quality assessment in Jabi.

When Water Turns Deadly: Investigating Source Identification and Quality of Drinking Water in Piwoyi Community of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria.

“…This may also be another reason for an increase in nitrate concentration in borehole water in the study area. Mpape (03), ECWA (38), Angwa Hausa (21) and Clime Sachet Water (09) are within the permissible level. Thus, nitrate concentration in Mpape, ECWA, Angwa Hausa and Clime Sachet Water is lower than the guideline value, indicating suitability of the water for drinking purpose.…”

“…These procedures include the analyses of different parameters such as pH, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, fluoride, nitrate, sulphate, chlorides, iodine, lead, cadmium, manganese amongst others. These parameters can affect the drinking water quality, if their values are in higher concentrations than the safe limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other regulatory bodies [1,3,13,38].…”

Investigating Source Identification and Quality of Drinking Water In Piwoyi Community of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria.

“…Physicochemical indices are based on the values of various physicochemical qualities in a water sample. These are vital for water quality monitoring (Sadiya et al, 2017;Raimi and Sabinus, 2017;Morufu and Clinton, 2017;. A number of scienti c procedures and tools have been developed to assess the water contaminants (Water Aid, 2007;.…”

“…These procedures include the analyses of different parameters such as pH, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, uoride, nitrate, sulphate, chlorides, iodine, lead, cadmium, manganese amongst others. These parameters can affect the drinking water quality, if their values are in higher concentrations than the safe limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other regulatory bodies (Sadiya et al, 2017;Raimi and Sabinus, 2017;Morufu and Clinton, 2017;.…”

Bacterial Analysis of Barbecued Meat (Suya) from Selected Locations within Abuja, Nigeria

“…Food safety is a major public health concern today in Nigeria due to the high incidence of diseases and death caused by food and waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid [5,11,[13][14][15]. In Nigeria about 90,000 cases of food poisoning were confirmed in 2007 by the Federal Ministry of Health, while the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 200,000 deaths from diarrhea each year in Nigeria [5,7,11,12,13,14].…”