AN INVESTIGATION OF THE QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER FROM COMMERCIAL WATER BOREHOLES IN PARTS OF KANO MUNICIPALITY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Amatobi Damiana Ada

Abstract: The gross inadequacy of public municipal drinking water supply in Nigeria compels individuals to make alternative arrangements for their drinking water supplies. In Kano, many people have embraced the sinking of water boreholes to obtain drinking water for private or commercial use, or both. In most cases the water is used directly for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene without any treatment. This paper investigates the quality of drinking water supplied from commercial boreholes in a selected area of Kano in Northern Nigeria. Samples of water from six commercial water boreholes, spread across Bomkpai and Yankaba, Niger Street and Airport Road-all in Kano municipality-were analyzed for physico-chemical and bacteriological quality. Two boreholes from the Bomkpai area were found to contain lead and chromium in the excess of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) recommended limits. Samples from all the boreholes studied were above limits of WHO and NSDWQ standards in colonies of micro-organism and coliform organism. The paper concludes that the quality of drinking water from six investigated commercial water boreholes in Kano raises health concerns. It recommends proper government regulation of commercial water boreholes in Kano; enforcement of periodic water quality checks.; and subjecting all commercial water boreholes in the Bomkpai area of Kano to water quality analysis, especially to determine the levels of heavy metals, such as lead and Chromium.

Keywords: Borehole, Commercial, Drinking Water, Health, Regulation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0508016