CONTAMINATION OF SURFACE AND GROUND WATER DUE TO ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES IN OGWUAMA COMMUNITY OF AHIAZU, IMO STATE, NIGERIA.BYDR. (MRS.) TOCHUKWU EZECHI EBEDEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY, SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OFTECHNOLOGY, OWERRI,IMO STATE, NIGERIA.
INTRODUCTIONWater is very important in our day to day activities. Sources of water inOgwuamacommunity are stream and ground water. The quality of water source is influenced majorly by anthropogenic activities. Such as cassava fermentation and intensive agricultural practice, washing of cloths, bathing, defecation and discharge of massive amount of waste around the water source.The quality of water can be determined by monitoring microbial load especiallyfeacalcoliformandphysico-chemical parameters like pH, Dissolved oxygen, Biochemical oxygen demand etc.
MATERIALS AND METHODSTUDY AREAOgwuamainAhiazuMbaise, Imo State of Nigeria is located within 7o14’ 348’’ to 7o18’ 44’’ E and 5o31’ 006’’ to 5o35’ 56’’ N. The climate of the area is humid tropical and typifies the rain forest zone of the equatorial region. Mean ambient temperature is 280C. Wet season last between April to November with a short dry season lasting the rest of year.
Furthermore, thephysico-chemical and microbial analysis were also carried out using standard method.The pH, temperature, conductivity, total dissolved solid and dissolved oxygen were determined in-situ usingjenway(Hanna 1910) multipurpose tester in each sampling point while the BOD was determined using awinklermethod for a period of five days at 200C.
Table 1: Thephysico-chemical and microbial analysis results of well water.
Table 2: Thephysico-chemical and microbial analysis results of Upstream.
Table 3: Thephysico-chemical and microbial analysis results of downstream.
Table 4: The mean standard deviation of the water samples
DISCUSSION
The mean pH values recorded showed that ground water, upstream and downstream waters are slightly acidic and below the lower permissible limit recommended by WHO and FMENV. This may be due to the organic contamination which may come from naturalleachates, atmospheric droplets and human contamination during fermentation of cassava in the water.The mean temperature of the water samples collected was within the permissible limit.
The mean values of conductivities of ground water is a little bit higher than WHO/FMENV limits while that of upstream and downstream waters are lower.From the mean values of turbidity of the waters, ground water is below the permissible limits while that of upstream and downstream waters were above the permissible limits and can shield the pathogenic organisms. Therefore, the higher the turbidity, the more energy and chemicals required for water treatment (Obasiet al., 2004).
Results of the heterotrophic bacterial count showed that the ground water had the lowest load. This is simply a measure of the number of live bacteria present in water and does not necessarily indicate health threats.Faecalcoliformbacteria were detected in all the water samples collected but were a bit much in the downstream water. According to FMENV standards, drinking water should have zerofaecalcoliformbacterial count in 100ml of the water. It is most likely thatfaecalcontamination arises from human activities.
CONCLUSION
Due to the heavy bacterial load, the water sampled were not good drinking and for other domestic activities. There is need to reduce most anthropogenic activities around the water source especially those that have negative impact on the water body such as defecation (both humans and animals), fermentation etc.This will help to improve the sanitization of water for domestic use since the stream and ground water are the major sources of water in this area.Furthermore, sinking of shallow borehole should be discouraged.
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